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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy
Published in: Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy 10/2018

01-10-2018 | Sports Medicine

The lack of standardized outcome measures following lower extremity injury in elite soccer: a systematic review

Authors: William A. Zuke, Avinesh Agarwalla, Beatrice Go, Justin W. Griffin, Brian J. Cole, Nikhil N. Verma, Bernard R. Bach, Brian Forsythe

Published in: Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy | Issue 10/2018

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Abstract

Purpose

Sport-specific, performance-based outcomes are increasingly used to improve evaluation of treatment efficacy in elite athletes; however, its usage in elite soccer may be limited. The purpose of this investigation is to (1) assess current outcome reporting in elite soccer; (2) identify any variability in reporting of outcomes; and (3) determine how sport-specific performance-based outcomes are utilized to assess treatment efficacy in elite soccer.

Methods

A systematic review of the Pubmed, MEDLINE, and Embase, Scopus, SportDiscus, CINAHL and HealthSource: Nursing databases was performed without limitation on publication year. Inclusion criteria were (1) reporting of outcomes after a (2) lower extremity injury in (3) elite soccer players. The study’s population, type of injury, return to play, as well as functional, objective, and sport-specific performance-based outcomes were extracted from each article. The methodological index for nonrandomized studies was used for quality assessment.

Results

Twenty-one studies were selected after application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Objective outcomes were reported by 6 (29%) studies, and 6 (29%) employed patient-reported outcomes. The visual analog scale, Lysholm, and Tegner scores were the most common patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Return to play was reported by 18 (86%) studies, and only 2 (10%) utilized sport-specific performance-based outcomes. Despite the majority of studies reporting return to play, variation was seen in the definitions, and 15 (71%) studies reported the activity level of the players at final follow-up.

Conclusion

Assessment of treatment efficacy is limited in elite athletes, and PROs lack the sensitivity to identify residual performance deficits after an injury. Although performance-based measures are available at the elite level, these outcomes were seldom used for evaluation of treatment efficacy.

Clinical relevance

When treating elite soccer players, patient-reported outcome measures lack the sensitivity to detect changes in patient function, thus performance-based metrics may be more efficacious in assessing return from injury in these patients.

Level of evidence

IV.
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Metadata
Title
The lack of standardized outcome measures following lower extremity injury in elite soccer: a systematic review
Authors
William A. Zuke
Avinesh Agarwalla
Beatrice Go
Justin W. Griffin
Brian J. Cole
Nikhil N. Verma
Bernard R. Bach
Brian Forsythe
Publication date
01-10-2018
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy / Issue 10/2018
Print ISSN: 0942-2056
Electronic ISSN: 1433-7347
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-018-5032-1

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