Underutilization of coper/non-coper screening in anterior cruciate ligament injuries management in Italy: an online survey.
Luca Macrelli, Luca Mallia, Gabriele Thiebat and 3 others
PMID 39882064WHAT IT FOUND
Most Italian clinicians do not use the coper/non-coper screening for ACL injuries.
Only 17% of physical therapists and 20% of surgeons apply it routinely. This means many patients may miss a chance to avoid surgery through structured rehab.
Key findings
01Only 17% of surveyed physical therapists use the coper/non-coper screening in routine clinical practice.
02Only 20% of surveyed orthopedic surgeons regularly implement the screening, despite 44% claiming to refer to it.
03Physical therapists are rarely involved by surgeons in the decision to proceed with ACL reconstruction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study is a survey of self-reported practices, not an audit of actual patient outcomes. The questionnaire was not formally validated. The sample of 'expert' clinicians was small (31 PTs and 62 surgeons), limiting the statistical power of subgroup analyses. The survey was restricted to Italian clinicians, so findings may not generalize to other countries. Selection bias is possible due to the online distribution method via newsletters and social media.
Declared interests
The authors declared no financial support was received for the research, authorship, or publication.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these findings as evidence that the coper/non-coper screening is ineffective or that surgery should be avoided. The survey reports on clinician behavior and confidence, not on patient outcomes. The low adoption rate reflects a gap in implementation, not a failure of the clinical approach itself.