# Associations between postural orientation errors in patients undergoing rehabilitation for ACL reconstruction and future patient-reported outcomes: An explorative study

## TL;DR

This study explores how postural orientation errors during ACL rehabilitation relate to patient-reported outcomes two years later.

## Contribution

The study is the first to explore the link between postural orientation errors during ACL rehabilitation and long-term patient-reported outcomes.

## Key findings

- Worse baseline postural orientation errors in sport were associated with lower knee self-efficacy and quality of life scores at 2-year follow-up.
- No significant associations were found between postural orientation errors and other patient-reported outcome measures.
- The study suggests postural orientation during rehabilitation may influence long-term knee-related quality of life.

## Abstract

To investigate associations between postural orientation errors (POEs) in patients undergoing rehabilitation for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) at 2-year follow-up.

Prospective cohort study.

Fifty-three participants (mean (SD) 27 (6.5) years, 24 women), (mean (range) 7 (4–10) months post ACLR) were included. At baseline, all participants were visually assessed for POEs using a validated test battery. The POE subscales Activities of Daily Living and Sport were used in the analysis. At 2-years, the following PROMs were collected: Global knee function, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, ACL Quality of Life (QoL), Knee Self-Efficacy Scale (K-SES), and ACL Return-to-Sport after Injury scale.

Twenty-one participants answered the questionnaires at 2 years (7 women and 14 men). Worse baseline POE Sport was associated with worse scores on K-SES (rs ​= ​–0.435, p ​≤ ​0.049) and ACL-QoL (rs ​= ​−0.467 to −0.576, p ​≤ ​0.038) at follow-up. No statistically significant associations were observed between POEs and the other PROMs.

Postural orientation during the rehabilitation phase may be important for future knee self-efficacy and knee-related QoL after ACLR. Given the small population and low response rate, this result needs to be confirmed in future research.