{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T01:57:45Z","timestamp":1768442265651,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768348800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000071","name":"Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01-HD087459"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01-HD087459"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000071","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) provide important insights into recovery after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Previous research suggests that males and females recover differently after ACLR, with females reporting greater pain, slower functional gains, and lower psychological readiness at later stages of rehabilitation. However, it is unknown if patient-reported outcomes differ by sex early after ACLR. To address this gap, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis comparing patient-reported outcome measures between sexes three months after ACLR. We hypothesized that females would report worse PROMs compared to males. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis used data from a prospectively maintained ACL reconstruction cohort. Fifty-six individuals (female: 23 and male: 33) with primary, unilateral ACLR completed PROMs three months after surgery. These PROMs included the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS; Symptoms, Pain, Activities of Daily Living, Sport and Recreation, Quality of Life), International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective score, Knee Outcome Survey\u2013Activities of Daily Living Scale (KOS-ADLS), Anterior Cruciate Ligament\u2013Return to Sport After Injury (ACL-RSI), and the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK). All outcomes were expressed on a 0 to 100 percent scale, with higher scores indicating better outcomes, except for TSK, where lower scores indicated better outcomes. Normality was assessed within sex, using the Shapiro\u2013Wilk test. Two-tailed independent-samples t-tests with Welch correction were used for approximately normal variables; otherwise, Mann\u2013Whitney U tests were utilized (\u03b1 = 0.05). Several outcomes had limited statistical power to detect MCID-sized differences, and findings for these measures should be interpreted cautiously. Results: No significant differences between sexes were found for any of the PROMs. Males trended towards having better KOOS Sport and Recreation and IKDC, but these were not statistically significant, and the effect sizes were small-to-moderate. Conclusions: No statistically significant sex-based differences were detected in PROMs at approximately 3 months after ACLR, indicating that any sex-related divergences between these measures may not occur until later in recovery.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15020680","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T15:12:04Z","timestamp":1768403524000},"page":"680","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sex-Based Differences in Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Are Not Present Three Months After ACL Reconstruction"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-7204-4472","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdulmajeed","family":"Alfayyadh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy and Health Rehabilitation, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jack R.","family":"Williams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kelsey","family":"Neal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6003-3881","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ashutosh","family":"Khandha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lynn","family":"Snyder-Mackler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6288-5076","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas S.","family":"Buchanan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"596","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsm.2010.076364","article-title":"Return to Sport Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the State of Play","volume":"45","author":"Ardern","year":"2011","journal-title":"Br. 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