Background: Quality of life (QoL) is affected up to 5 years after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Knee impairment and osteoarthritis (OA) development increase over time, and this may affect QoL at a long-term follow-up.
Purpose: To investigate changes in health- and knee-related QoL between 20 and 35 years after ACL injury and compare it between patients treated with or without ACL surgery, as well as to study how symptomatic OA (SOA) is associated with change in QoL.
Study design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.
Methods: Between 1980 and 1983, 139 patients with acute ACL rupture were allocated to surgical or nonsurgical treatment of the ACL. Both groups completed a structured rehabilitation program. Of those patients, 59 were followed for 20 and 35 years after ACL rupture. After 10 crossovers, 33 patients were treated with primary repair or ACL reconstruction, and 26 were treated without ACL surgery. Combined radiographic OA and knee symptoms at 35 years was defined as SOA. QoL was assessed at 20 and 35 years after injury with the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score QoL (KOOS-QoL) subscale (range, 1-100), ACL-QoL questionnaire (total score and 5 subscales; range, 1-100), European QoL-5 Dimensions Questionnaire, and visual analog scale. Results were analyzed with paired and independent-sample t tests and chi-square tests.
Results: Knee-related QoL was impaired at both 20 and 35 years after ACL injury, and differences were dependent on the measurement outcome. In the total cohort, KOOS-QoL did not change but both total ACL-QoL score (7.1 points; 95% CI, 2.2-11.9) and 4 of 5 subscales (5-10 points) decreased (P < .05). No differences were found between treatment groups. QoL decreased overall in patients with SOA, with a 21-point difference within-group change in KOOS-QoL (SOA or non-SOA) between 20 and 35 years of follow-up (P = .001; Cohen d = 1.0).
Conclusion: An ACL injury impairs knee-related QoL for up to 35 years, with no difference between treatment approaches (initial repair or later reconstruction compared with nonsurgical treatment). The deterioration decreases with longer follow-up. Clinicians should be aware of differences in QoL depending on the measurement outcome.
Keywords: ACL injury; ACL surgery; long-term follow-up; quality of life.