The impact of psychological readiness to return to sport and recreational activities after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
One article on PainSci cites Ardern 2014: Is Running on Pavement Risky?
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
BACKGROUND: This cross-sectional study aimed to examine whether appraisal of knee function, psychological and demographic factors were related to returning to the preinjury sport and recreational activity following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.
METHOD: 164 participants completed a questionnaire battery at 1-7 years after primary ACL reconstruction. The battery included questionnaires evaluating knee self-efficacy, health locus of control, psychological readiness to return to sport and recreational activity, and fear of reinjury; and self-reported knee function in sport-specific tasks, knee-related quality of life and satisfaction with knee function. The primary outcome was returning to the preinjury sport or recreational activity.
RESULTS: At follow-up, 40% (66/164) had returned to their preinjury activity. Those who returned had more positive psychological responses, reported better knee function in sport and recreational activities, perceived a higher knee-related quality of life and were more satisfied with their current knee function. The main reasons for not returning were not trusting the knee (28%), fear of a new injury (24%) and poor knee function (22%). Psychological readiness to return to sport and recreational activity, measured with the ACL-Return to Sport after Injury scale (was most strongly associated with returning to the preinjury activity). Age, sex and preinjury activity level were not related.
CONCLUSIONS: Less than 50% returned to their preinjury sport or recreational activity after ACL reconstruction. Psychological readiness to return to sport and recreation was the factor most strongly associated with returning to the preinjury activity. Including interventions aimed at improving this in postoperative rehabilitation programmes could be warranted to improve the rate of return to sport and recreational activities.
related content
- “A systematic review of the psychological factors associated with returning to sport following injury,” Clare L Ardern, Nicholas F Taylor, Julian A Feller, and Kate E Webster, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2013.
- “Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction-Not Exactly a One-Way Ticket Back to the Preinjury Level: A Review of Contextual Factors Affecting Return to Sport After Surgery,” Clare L Ardern, Sports Health, 2015.
- “Sports participation 2 years after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in athletes who had not returned to sport at 1 year: a prospective follow-up of physical function and psychological factors in 122 athletes,” Clare L Ardern, Nicholas F Taylor, Julian A Feller, Timothy S Whitehead, and Kate E Webster, American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2015.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- A double-blinded randomised controlled study of the value of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium therapy in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component. Yousef 2013 Anaesthesia.
- Is Neck Posture Subgroup in Late Adolescence a Risk Factor for Persistent Neck Pain in Young Adults? A Prospective Study. Richards 2021 Phys Ther.
- Photobiomodulation therapy is not better than placebo in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Guimarães 2021 Pain.
- No effect of creatine monohydrate supplementation on inflammatory and cartilage degradation biomarkers in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. Cornish 2018 Nutr Res.
- The CANBACK trial: a randomised, controlled clinical trial of oral cannabidiol for people presenting to the emergency department with acute low back pain. Bebee 2021 Med J Aust.