title: Validity, Reliability, and Responsiveness of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Quality of Life Measure: A Continuation of Its Overall Validation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose is to provide more validity, reliability, and responsiveness testing of the anterior cruciate ligament-quality of life instrument (ACL-QOL), particularly in light of consensus-based standards for the selection of health status measurement instruments (COSMIN) guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  An orthopedic surgical practice for consultation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convenience sample of 579 ACL-deficient patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anterior cruciate ligament reconstructive surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients completed the ACL-QOL at initial visit and underwent reconstructive surgery. Patients were followed at 6, 12, and 24 months using the ACL-QOL to determine its validity and responsiveness. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the unidimensionality of the ACL-QOL. A subset of patients took the ACL-QOL twice in a test-retest reliability analysis (intraclass correlation coefficient or ICC 2,k). Another subset of 24-month postsurgical patients measured the success of their surgery using a 7-point global rating scale of improvement as an anchor-based method of responsiveness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cronbach's alpha coefficients = 0.93, 0.95, 0.96, and 0.98 at 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.60, SEM = 6.16, and confidence interval of 12.1 (CI 95%). Responsiveness was measured by comparing the 4 serial time periods. Patients improved significantly at each time period (P < 0.05, ETA squared 0.61). A 24-month ACL-QOL was significantly correlated (P > 0.05) to being "significantly better" or "somewhat better."
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study added more validity, reliability, and responsiveness for the ACL-QOL. The ACL-QOL has completed 8 of 9 COSMIN criteria.
authors.affiliation: *Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and †Banff Sport Medicine, Banff, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lafave
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hiemstra
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kerslake
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heard
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Buchko
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult