Clinician Knowledge of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Rehabilitation Practices: A Preliminary Survey Study

After completing rehabilitation, patients face a high risk of subsequent injury following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. It is important to identify potential barriers to patient success including clinician knowledge. The purpose of this study was to assess clinician knowledge of research related to anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction rehabilitation.

This was a survey study using snowball sampling.

Survey development began with the creation of a construct map and contained varying levels of advanced concepts, level I indicating the most basic and level V the most complex. The survey was distributed to advertise to target population. A total of 60 participants (24 athletic trainers, 33 physical therapists, and 3 dual credentialed) completed the study.

Overall, participants displayed moderate to high levels of knowledge (79.7%-93.5% correct), apart from the implementation of motor learning principles.

Clinician knowledge may not be the primary barrier to patient success, but the implementation of this knowledge should be explored in relation to patient outcomes. Future research should examine a larger cohort to examine differences between clinician types.