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Psychological Factors Influencing Return to Sport After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

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Return to Play in Football

Abstract

Despite having good knee function, many athletes do not return to their previous level of preinjury sport following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. This suggests that there are other factors which influence return to sport after this surgery. Recent reviews and meta-analyses have demonstrated that a range of contextual factors affect the return-to-sport rate after ACL reconstruction including age, sex, sport participation level and psychological factors. In terms of psychological factors, there is convincing evidence that a lower fear of reinjury and greater psychological readiness are associated with higher return-to-sport rates. A number of measurement tools are now available which aim to measure such constructs, one of which is specific to ACL injury, the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Return to Sport After Injury (ACL-RSI) scale. This scale has shown clear associations between psychological readiness and return to sport, even when used before athletes undergo surgery. Clinical cut-off scores have been proposed, which may guide both the athlete and clinician in the return-to-sport process. This chapter provides a summary of the evidence of the psychological aspects related to injury recovery and returning to sport following ACL reconstruction injury and surgery.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, 3086, Australia

    Kate E Webster

  2. OrthoSport Victoria, Epworth HealthCare, Richmond, Australia

    Julian A Feller

Authors
  1. Kate E Webster
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  2. Julian A Feller
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Correspondence to Kate E Webster .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Volker Musahl

  2. Department of Orthopaedics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Jón Karlsson

  3. Department of Trauma Surgery, University Medical Centre Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Werner Krutsch

  4. Santa Monica, California, USA

    Bert R. Mandelbaum

  5. Clínica do Dragão, Espregueira-Mendes Sports Centre, Porto, Portugal

    João Espregueira-Mendes

  6. Orthopaedic Surgery, Aspetar Hospital, Doha, Qatar

    Pieter d'Hooghe

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Webster, K.E., Feller, J.A. (2018). Psychological Factors Influencing Return to Sport After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. In: Musahl, V., Karlsson, J., Krutsch, W., Mandelbaum, B., Espregueira-Mendes, J., d'Hooghe, P. (eds) Return to Play in Football. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55713-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55713-6_6

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-55713-6

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