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A test battery for evaluating hop performance in patients with an ACL injury and patients who have undergone ACL reconstruction

Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy volume 14, pages 778–788 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a test battery of hop tests with high ability to discriminate (i.e. high test–retest reliability, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy) between the hop performance of the injured and the uninjured side in patients with an ACL injury and in patients who have undergone ACL reconstruction. Five hop tests were analysed: three maximum single hop tests and two hop tests while developing fatigue. Fifteen healthy subjects performed the five hop tests on three separate occasions in a test–retest design. Thirty patients, mean 11 months after an ACL injury and 35 patients, mean 6 months after ACL reconstruction were tested. ICC values ranged from 0.85 to 0.97 for the five hop tests, indicating that all the tests had high test–retest reliability. Sixty-seven percent to 100% of the healthy subjects had normal symmetry (i.e. <10% side-to-side difference) in the five hop tests. Abnormal symmetry in the five hop tests ranged from 43 to 77% for patients with an ACL injury and from 51 to 86% for patients who had undergone ACL reconstruction respectively. The three tests with the highest ability to discriminate hop performance were chosen for the test battery; they were the vertical jump, the hop for distance and the side hop. The test battery revealed a high level of sensitivity and accuracy in patients with an ACL injury (87 and 84%) and in patients who had undergone ACL reconstruction (91 and 88%), when at least one of the three tests was classified as abnormal. To summarise, the test battery consisting of both maximum single hop performances: the vertical jump and the hop for distance and hop performance while developing fatigue: the side hop, produced high test–retest reliability, sensitivity and accuracy. Further, the test battery produced higher values compared with any of the three hop tests individually revealing that only one out of ten patients had restored hop performance 11 months after an ACL injury and 6 months after ACL reconstruction. It is concluded that this test battery showed a high ability to discriminate between the hop performance of the injured and the uninjured side both in patients with an ACL injury and in patients who have undergone ACL reconstruction.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Centre for Research in Sports and Research and The Local Research and Development Council for Gothenburg and Southern Bohuslän Sweden.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden

    Alexander Gustavsson, Camille Neeter, Pia Thomeé, Karin Grävare Silbernagel, Jesper Augustsson, Roland Thomeé & Jon Karlsson

  2. Sportrehab – Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Clinic, Göteborg, Sweden

    Alexander Gustavsson, Camille Neeter, Pia Thomeé, Karin Grävare Silbernagel, Jesper Augustsson & Roland Thomeé

  3. Department of Orthopaedics, Lundberg Laboratory for Human Muscle Function and Movement Analysis, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, 413 45, Göteborg, Sweden

    Alexander Gustavsson

Authors
  1. Alexander Gustavsson
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  2. Camille Neeter
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  3. Pia Thomeé
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  4. Karin Grävare Silbernagel
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  5. Jesper Augustsson
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  6. Roland Thomeé
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  7. Jon Karlsson
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Correspondence to Alexander Gustavsson.

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Gustavsson, A., Neeter, C., Thomeé, P. et al. A test battery for evaluating hop performance in patients with an ACL injury and patients who have undergone ACL reconstruction. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthr 14, 778–788 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-006-0045-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-006-0045-6

Keywords

  • Anterior cruciate ligament
  • Knee
  • Rehabilitation
  • Hop test