Health-related quality of life in patients with an anterior cruciate ligament injury

We evaluated the quality of life (QOL) in patients with an anterior cruciate ligament injury through SF-36 survey, which was a global health-related QOL survey, and investigated the correlation of its results with other clinical parameters. Fifty-one patients (mean age 28.7 years) with an anterior cruciate ligament injury were studied. Clinical evaluations using SF-36 version 2 and Lysholm scoring system were conducted, and the ratio of anterior tibial translation in affected compared to unaffected knees was obtained. In SF-36 survey, scores of both physical and mental health summary measures in our subjects were lower than the national standard values. The mean ratio of anterior tibial translation was 7.8 +/- A 6.0, and no correlation with SF-36 scores was observed. The mean Lysholm score was 53.3 +/- A 17.1; which tended to be correlated with the mental health score of SF-36, but not with the physical health score. Our results clearly demonstrated that patients with an anterior cruciate ligament injury had a deterioration of mental health as well as physical health.