Comparison of physical therapy utilization, timing of return-to-sport test completion, and hop test performance by age and between sexes in youth athletes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Objective: To compare physical therapy (PT) utilization, timing of return-to-sport (RTS) test and hop test performance by age and between sexes in youth after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

Design: Multicenter retrospective cohort.

Methods: A retrospective review of adolescents after primary ACLR was conducted. Participants completed return-to-sport (RTS) tests including single-legged hop testing. PT frequency, average weekly visits, and timing of RTS test were calculated. T-tests assessed the effect of age and sex on average weekly PT visits and multivariable logistic regressions assessed odds of passing hop tests.

Results: 289 participants were included (15.7 ± 1.9 years). There was no difference in average weekly PT visits (p = 0.321) or time to RTS test (p = 0.162) by age. There were significant differences in average weekly PT visits (p = 0.047) and mean time from surgery to RTS test (p = 0.048) between sexes with small effect sizes (d = 0.24 and d = 0.21, respectively). Age and sex had no effect on odds of passing hop tests (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 0.71-2.35 and OR, 0.79; 95%CI, 0.43-1.45, respectively).

Conclusion: In a youth cohort, age and sex may have no clinically important effect on PT visit utilization, timing of RTS test or hop test performance.