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.