Trends and associations between kinesiophobia and knee function from preoperatively to three and six months postoperatively in patients post-ACL reconstruction surgery

Objective This study aimed to clarify the relationship between the transition of kinesiophobia and knee joint function from the preoperative period to three months postoperative, the time to resume running, six months post-ACLR, and the goal time to resume sports. Methods 54 patients who underwent initial ACLR were included in this study. The Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia-11 (TSK-11) was used to assess kinesiophobia. One-way ANOVA was performed for the preoperative, three-month postoperative, and six-month postoperative endpoints. To examine changes in knee function associated with changes in TSK-11, we calculated correlations between the differences at each time point. Results TSK-11 decreased significantly at both three and six months postoperatively compared with the preoperative level, but there was no significant change between three months and six months postoperatively. Similar to the decrease in TSK-11 from preoperatively to three and six months postoperatively, there was an improvement in flexion ROM, Pain, Subjective knee function, but none of these changed significantly from three to six months postoperatively. Conclusion There may be significant improvements in knee function associated with TSK-11 reduction up to three months postoperatively.