Purpose: Chronic ankle instability is the main complication of ankle sprains and requires surgery if non-operative treatment fails. The goal of this study was to validate a tool to quantify psychological readiness to return to sport after ankle ligament reconstruction.
Methods: The form was designed like the anterior cruciate ligament-return to sport after injury scale and "Knee" was replaced by the term "ankle". The ankle ligament reconstruction-return to sport after injury (ALR-RSI) scale was filled by patients who underwent ankle ligament reconstruction and were active in sports. The scale was then validated according to the international COSMIN methodology. The AOFAS and Karlsson scores were used as reference questionnaires.
Results: Fifty-seven patients (59 ankles) were included, 27 women. The ALR-RSI scale was strongly correlated with the Karlsson score (r = 0.79 [0.66-0.87]) and the AOFAS score (r = 0.8 [0.66-0.87]). A highly significant difference was found in the ALR-RSI between the subgroup of 50 patients who returned to playing sport and the seven who did not: 68.8 (56.5-86.5) vs 45.0 (31.3-55.8), respectively, p = 0.02. The internal consistency of the scale was high (α = 0.96). Reproducibility of the test-retest was excellent (ρ = 0.92; 95% CI [0.86-0.96]).
Conclusion: The ALR-RSI is a valid, reproducible scale that identifies patients who are ready to return to the same sport after ankle ligament reconstruction. This scale may help to identify athletes who will find sport resumption difficult.
Level of evidence: III.
Keywords: ALR-RSI; Ankle; Ligament reconstruction; Psychological.