Citation

Lam KC, Markbreiter JG. J. Sport Rehab. 2019; 28(2): 115-119.

Affiliation

Athletic Training Programs, Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, A.T. Still University, Mesa, AZ.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/jsr.2017-0226

PMID

29035623

Abstract

CONTEXT: Current evidence suggests that, despite returning to full participation, physically active adults with a previous knee injury experience lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) than those with no knee injury history. It is unknown if this relationship is present in adolescent athletes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of knee injury history on HRQOL in adolescent athletes who were medically cleared for full participation.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Athletic training clinics. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 183 adolescent athletes, who were medically cleared for full participation, were grouped by self-report of a previous knee injury: positive knee injury history [HIS] (n=36, age=15.7+1.35 years, height=168.0+11.9 cm; weight=71.8+11.9 kg) and no knee injury history [NO-HIS] (n=147, age=15.5+1.4 years, height=166.0+10.5 cm, weight=67.6+14.6 kg). INTERVENTIONS: Participants completed the pediatric version of the International Knee Documentation Committee form (Pedi-IKDC) and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) during their preparticipation examination. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Generalized linear models were used to compare group differences for the total and subscale scores of the Pedi-IKDC and PedsQL.

RESULTS: Main effects of injury group indicated that the HIS group reported significantly lower scores than the NO-HIS group for the Pedi-IKDC total score (p<.001; HIS=79.2±21.7, NO-HIS=95.8±8.6) and for the PedsQL total (p=.001 HIS=85.7±10.9, NO-HIS=90.9±7.3), physical functioning (p=.002; HIS=86.7±13.6, NO-HIS=92.1±8.2), school functioning (p=.01; HIS=80.6±12.4, NO-HIS=86.8±12.2), and social functioning (p=.01; HIS=89.3+12.4, NO-HIS=94.6+8.9) scores. No group differences were reported for the emotional functioning subscale (p=.13; HIS=85.7±17.7, NO-HIS=89.7±13.1). No interactions or main effects of sex were reported (p>.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that, despite returning to full sport participation, adolescent athletes with a previous knee injury generally experience lower HRQOL than their peers with no knee injury history, specifically for knee-specific HRQOL, physical functioning, school functioning and social functioning. Our results are similar to previous findings reported in collegiate athletes and military cadets.

Language: en