Indergaug et al recently published a study titled, "The Role of Psychological Readiness in Return to Sport Assessment After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction."
The authors sought to examine the predictive ability of a return to sport (RTS) test battery on return to preinjury level of sport and reinjury when evaluation of psychological readiness was incorporated.
What did the authors find?
Out of the 103 patients who completed the 2-year follow-up, 42% returned to their preinjury level of sport.
ACL-RSI (which focuses on assessing the psychological readiness to return to sport) at 9 months after surgery and age predicted RTS.
An ACL-RSI score <47 indicated that a patient was at risk of not returning to sport
The functional tests did not predict RTS.
6 patients sustained ACL reinjuries and 7 underwent surgery for other knee complaints/injuries after RTS testing.
None of the 29 patients who passed all RTS criteria, and were therefore cleared for RTS, sustained a second knee injury.
What does this mean?
ACL-RSI and age were predictors of 2-year RTS, while functional tests were not informative. Another main finding was that none of the patients who passed the 85% RTS criteria sustained another knee injury.
This study highlights the importance of assessing and addressing the psychological readiness to return to sport.
