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Einaudi – Physical Activity Patterns in Men and Women Within the First Six Months Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

 

Physical Activity Patterns in Men and Women Within the First Six Months Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (2023)

Undergraduate: Elena Einaudi


Faculty Advisor: Brian Pietrosimone
Department: Exercise and Sport Science

CONTEXT: Physical activity (PA) is integral to knee joint recovery post-anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Females post-ACLR are less likely to meet national PA guidelines after unrestricted clearance to return to activity. It is unclear if sex difference in PA manifest in the first 6 months post-ACLR. PURPOSE: To determine PA patterns developed during the first 6-months post-ACLR for both males and females. METHODS: Twenty-one participants (67% Female, age: 20.4±4.1 years old, BMI: 24.6 ± 4.5 kg/m2) who underwent primary ACLR were included. Subjects wore an ActiGraph GT9X Link accelerometer to track time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) per day at 2-, 4-, and 6-months post-ACLR. The accelerometer was worn for a minimum of 10 hours per day for at least a 4-day period, including at least 1 weekend day. A mixed-methods, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc tests were used to determine differences in MVPA both between sexes and over time. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant main effects for differences in time spent in MVPA (p=0.35) between the sexes over the 6-months post-ACLR. There were also no statistically significant interactions in daily MVPA between time post-ACLR and sex (p=0.89). However, there were statistically significant main effects for differences in daily MVPA over time (p=0.02). Participants engaged in greater daily MVPA at 6-months compared to 2-months (p=0.01) and 4-months (p=0.002) post-ACLR, indicating that differences in MVPA between sex may develop following clearance to return to activity.

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