Assessment of the Global Rating of Knee Function in Patients Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of the global rating of knee function as a measure of participation restrictions experienced during activities of daily living and sports by patients with a history of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Forty-three subjects (33 males, 10 females, age＝20.3 ± 1.3 years), at a mean of 31.2 ± 14.4 months following ACLR, participated in this study. During testing, subjects were first asked to provide a global rating of function by assessing their level of knee function on a 0 to 100 scale, with 0 points representing complete loss of function due to their knee injury and 100 points representing their level of function prior to their knee injury. After providing a global rating of function, subjects completed the Knee Outcome Survey (KOS) Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADLS) and Sports Activity Scale (SAS), which served as the measure of participation restrictions in this study. Results: Pearson product correlations revealed moderate relationships between the global rating of function and the ADLS (r＝ 0.66, p＜0.0001) and SAS (r＝0.69, p＜0.0001). Conclusions: The global rating of knee function provides a valid measure of participation restrictions experienced during activities of daily living and sports by patients with a history of ACLR.