Fear of re-injury and its effect on returning to pre-injury sports activity level following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: single-center study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the fear of re-injury and its effect on returning to pre-injury sports activity level among patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients who underwent ACL reconstruction in King Fahad Hofuf Hospital, Eastern province, AlAhsa, Saudi Arabia in the last 5 years with a sample size of 385 patients. The questionnaire included the Arabic version of the return to sport (RTS) after ACL scale to assess patients' readiness for RTS without the fear of ACL injury, and Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire to determine the level of exercise following surgery. Results: A total of 204 patients eligible for the study were included with a mean age of 29.9 ± 14.5 years. Exactly 199 (97.5%) patients were males and 185 (90.7%) were football players. Among patients, 62.5% felt relaxed about playing sports and confident about the ability to perform well at sport (60.3%). However, only 46.4% of patients had thought of being likely to re-injury of knee by participating in sports again. Post-surgery, 89.2% were highly active. Young-aged patients and students showed statistically significant (p = 0.004) scores to return to pre-injury sport activity. Conclusion: Less than half of the ACL reconstruction patients experienced fear of re-injury. Therefore, optimizing the surgical technique along with post-operative close follow up of the patient's psychological and physical status affect the patient's performance and activity level after surgery.