Male and Female Adolescent Athletes' Readiness to Return to Sport After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury and Reconstruction

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether readiness to return to sport (RTS) differed between adolescent male and female athletes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

Design: Longitudinal, prospective cohort.

Setting: Outpatient office associated with tertiary-care hospital.

Patients: A total of 93 adolescent athletes, 17 years of age and younger, who underwent ACLR surgery with a hamstring autograft were included.

Independent variables: Male and female athletes.

Main outcome measures: Anterior cruciate ligament-return to sport after injury (ACL-RSI) completed at 3 time points: (1) preoperatively (Pre-op), (2) approximately 3 months into rehabilitation (Post-op 1), and (3) during RTS phases of recovery (Post-op 2).

Results: There was a significant main effect for both sex (P < 0.010) and time (P < 0.0001) with male athletes having higher ACL-RSI scores than female athletes at all 3 time points; however, there was no significant time by sex interaction. All ACL-RSI scores increased significantly across time, regardless of sex. There were no statistically significant differences between ACL-RSI scores at all 3 time points between individuals who did and did not receive physician clearance.

Conclusions: This study provides a longitudinal depiction of adolescent athletes' readiness to RTS after ACL injury throughout recovery. Both male and female athletes demonstrated diminished ACL-RSI scores before undergoing surgery, with increasing scores at both postoperative time points for both sexes. Overall, female athletes reported lower readiness to RTS at all 3 time points compared with male athletes.