The Heidelberg Sports Activity Score - A New Instrument to Evaluate Sports Activity

OBJECTIVE An appropriate measuring instrument for assessing if sports activity changes after a surgical treatment is not available yet. We hypothesised that the Heidelberg Sport Activity Score is a valid and adequate instrument for measuring sport activity in patients before and after operative treatment. DESIGN This retrospective study presents a new score (Heidelberg Sports Activity Score - HAS) for measuring the sport activity in 11 selected sports. Validity, sensitivity and test-retest-reliability have been assessed. SETTING The score includes importance of the sports for patients, impairment of the corresponding joint, and frequency and duration of the sporting activities undertaken. The HAS was validated using 3 criteria: external validation, internal comparison of groups and correlation with the Tegner Score. PATIENTS A total of 655 patients were recruited for this study. The inclusion criterion was a planned or already received reconstruction (such as a high tibial osteotomy or implantation of a hip or knee prosthesis). The sport activity of these patients was evaluated before and after treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT The mean HAS was 32.1 points preoperatively and 37.0 postoperatively (p=0.017). RESULTS A high correlation was found between the HAS and the Tegner Score (TS) (r=0.729; p=0.010). The Test-Retest- Reliability was performed within a time interval of 2 weeks and a significant correlation of r=0.752 was found (p<0.01). Sensitivity was analysed using a sample of patients before and after high tibial osteotomy. CONCLUSIONS The HAS is a new, easy to use, effective and valid measuring instrument for the assessment of sports activity in patients before and after operative treatment.