A lower limb assessment tool for athletes at risk of developing patellar tendinopathy

Prediction of the presence of a PTA was achieved with 95% accuracy and 95% cross-validation., Conclusions: An easily implemented, reliable and valid movement screening tool comprising of three criterion enables coaches and/or clinicians to predict for the presence and severity of a PTA in asymptomatic athletes. This enables identification of asymptomatic athletes at higher risk of developing patellar tendinopathy, which allows the development of effective preventative measures to aid in the reduction of patellar tendinopathy injury prevalence.Purpose: Patellar tendon abnormality (PTA) on diagnostic imaging is part of the diagnostic criteria for patellar tendinopathy. A PTA in addition to altered landing strategies are primary risk factors that increase the likelihood of asymptomatic athletes developing patellar tendinopathy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine risk factors that are predictors of the presence and severity of a PTA in junior pre-elite athletes., Methods: Ten junior pre-elite male basketball athletes with a PTA were matched with ten athletes with normal patellar tendons. Participants had patellar tendon morphology, Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment score (VISA), body composition, lower limb flexibility and maximum vertical jump height measured prior to performing five successful stop-jump tasks. During each stop-jump task, both two- and threedimensional kinematics and ground reaction forces were recorded. Multiple regression analyses were used to identify factors for estimating PTA presence and severity, and discriminate analysis used to classify PTA presence., Results: Sixty-eight percent of variance for presence of a PTA was accounted for by hip joint range of motion (ROM), knee joint angle at initial foot-ground contact (IC) during stop-jump and quadriceps flexibility, whereas hip joint ROM and VISA accounted for 62% of variance for PTA severity.