Reliability of three-dimensional motion analysis during single-leg side drop landing test after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: An in vivo motion analysis study.
Johnson Chun Yiu Pang, Rachel Suet Wai Tsang
PMID 35782700WHAT IT FOUND
For patients who have had ACL reconstruction, a lateral single-leg drop landing test reliably measures knee and hip movement and landing forces.
This allows therapists to use it to track recovery over time or compare groups, though ankle movement is less reliable between test days.
Key findings
01The test shows good to excellent reliability for most hip and knee angles and landing forces in both legs, but reliability for ankle eversion was lower between sessions.
02Reliability was generally higher when measuring within the same session compared to measuring one week apart.
03Using a specific static alignment method to subtract baseline angles significantly improved the reliability of the measurements between sessions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 12 patients, which is a small sample size for establishing general reliability. All participants were approximately 10 months post-surgery and had completed their rehabilitation, so the test's reliability might differ in earlier or later stages of recovery. Ankle eversion measurements were not reliable between sessions, limiting the utility of the test for assessing frontal-plane ankle stability over time. Reliability depends heavily on precise marker placement and a specific static alignment procedure, which may be difficult to standardize in busy clinical settings.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study received a grant from the Caritas Institute of Higher Education for publication costs.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this test is equally reliable for all joints. While hip and knee measures are consistent, ankle eversion scores varied significantly between test days, meaning changes in ankle angles might be measurement error rather than a true change in patient function.