Intrarater reliability of selected clinical outcome measures following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Study Design: Single group repeated measures following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intrarater reliability of selected clinical outcome measures in patients having ACL reconstruction. Background: Several investigations have reported the reliability of isokinetic testing and knee ligament arthrometry. Fewer studies have examined the reliability of lower extremity functional tests, with most of these studies evaluating normal subjects. Methods and Measures: Fifteen physically active males with unilateral ACL-reconstructed knees were evaluated with the KT-1000, Biodex isokinetic dynamometer, and 3 functional hop tests on 5 occasions. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) revealed good to high intrarater reliability (ICC >0.80) of the functional hop tests and isokinetic peak torque values. ICCs were higher for the involved limb than the uninvolved limb using the scores from the KT-1000 Manual Maximum Test. Conclusions: The outcome measures examined in this investigation have been shown to be reliable in patients with ACL reconstructions, and support previous investigations in nonimpaired populations. Further research is needed to examine the validity of these postoperative outcome measures in patients with ACL reconstructions.