Assessing the Relationship of Psychological Sport Readiness, Single-leg Vertical Jump, and Non-Sagittal Single-Leg Hops to Quadriceps Strength After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.
Paul Kuwik, Erin Florkiewicz, Timothy Benedict and 3 others
PMID 39100937WHAT IT FOUND
Single-leg hop tests overestimate quadriceps strength after ACL reconstruction.
The vertical jump is the best screening tool for detecting strength asymmetry, while psychological readiness scores do not correlate with physical strength deficits.
Key findings
01The single-leg vertical jump had greater sensitivity (73.3%) than the medial rotation hop (40.0%) for detecting quadriceps strength asymmetry.
02Psychological readiness (ACL-RSI) did not correlate significantly with quadriceps strength limb symmetry.
03Only four of twenty-six ACLR participants achieved at least 90% limb symmetry on all strength and functional tests.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study used a small sample size (26 per group), limiting the ability to perform subgroup analyses by graft type or athletic level. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot determine the temporal relationship between functional improvements and strength recovery. Participants were all military cadets, which may limit generalizability to civilian athletes. The ACLR group had a high prevalence of quadriceps tendon autografts, which are associated with persistent quadriceps weakness, potentially skewing the strength results.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing financial interests or personal relationships. The study was approved by the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Institutional Review Board.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a patient's psychological readiness score reflects their physical strength. The study found no significant correlation between ACL-RSI scores and quadriceps strength symmetry, meaning a patient may feel ready to return to sport while still having significant strength deficits.