title: Functional assessments for decision-making regarding return to sports following ACL reconstruction. Part I: development of a new test battery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Return to activity remains the most common concern following an injury. To facilitate the decision regarding a patient's return to sport, we developed a standardized and easy-to-use test battery to enable an objective evaluation of knee function.
  
  
  METHODS
  The test battery consisted of seven functional tests: the two-leg stability test, one-leg stability test (OL-ST), two-leg countermovement jump (CMJ), one-leg CMJ (OL-CMJ), plyometric jumps, speedy test and quick feet test. For each test, the reliability was determined based on the intraclass correlation coefficient. For all one-leg tests, the limb symmetry index (LSI) was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All tests showed a moderate-to-high reliability. Normative data from 434 participants were included in the analysis. The subjects were categorized according to age as follows: children (10-14 years), youth (15-19 years), young adults (20-29 years) and adults (30-50 years). The establishment of the functional test values allowed the classification into five normative categories. The LSI for the OL-ST (98 %) indicated a better performance of the non-dominant leg. In contrast, high LSI values were found for the OL-CMJ (124 %), indicating a better performance of the dominant leg.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Each test was found to be reliable and simple to perform. The better performance of the non-dominant leg in stability tasks must be considered when interpreting side-to-side differences. The established norm data from healthy individuals of each test battery represents an important basis for a clinical setting. Test results from an ACL-reconstructed patient should be at least classified as a functionally average outcome to support a safe return to sports.
  
  
  METHODS
  IV.
authors: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Fürstenweg 185, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria. carolin.hildebrandt@uibk.ac.at.
authors: Carolin
authors: C
authors: Hildebrandt
authors: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Fürstenweg 185, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: Müller
authors: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Fürstenweg 185, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Zisch
authors: Sports Physiotherapy Mag. R. Huber, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors: Reinhard
authors: R
authors: Huber
authors: Sportsclinic Austria, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Fink
authors: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Fürstenweg 185, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Raschner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D000068958:Return to Sport / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult