The Dutch language short Anterior Cruciate Ligament—Return to Sport after Injury scale has good to excellent construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability when assessing athletes undergoing rehabilitation after ACL injury or ACL reconstruction

Objectives: To examine the validity and reliability of the Dutch language short Anterior Cruciate Ligament—Return to Sport after Injury scale (short ACL-RSI-NL) in recreational athletes undergoing rehabilitation after ACL injury or ACL reconstruction (ACLR). Methods: The original 12-item version of the ACL-RSI had been translated into Dutch. Short ACL-RSI-NL items were derived from this 12-item Dutch version. Content validity was evaluated by a team consisting of eight ACL experts and eight athletes. A cohort of 115 athletes with ACL injury or after ACLR completed the short ACL-RSI-NL and related questionnaires at various time points during their rehabilitation. Construct validity (hypothesis testing using Spearman correlations), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), floor and ceiling effects (percentage of athletes having the lowest or highest score possible), and structural validity (exploratory factor analysis) were evaluated in the entire ACL athlete group. Test-retest reliability (using intra-class correlation, ICC; standard error of measurement, SEM; smallest detectable change, SDC, at both group and individual levels) was investigated in a subgroup of athletes with a stable outcome on psychological readiness within a two-week interval (n ​= ​27). Results: The short ACL-RSI-NL demonstrated good construct validity (83% of hypotheses confirmed). Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's alpha 0.84), and there were no floor and ceiling effects (≤13.9% lowest or highest score). Test-retest reliability was good (ICC 0.89 with 95% CI 0.77–0.95, SEM 6.93, SDC individual level 19.2, SDC group level 3.7). Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the presence of a single underlying factor (accounting for 56.4% of the total variance of the score). Conclusion: The short ACL-RSI-NL exhibited good to excellent construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. An averaged score ranging from 0 to 100 can be used to measure psychological readiness to return to sport. The short ACL-RSI-NL has potential for use in day-to-day practice to assess the psychological readiness of recreational athletes to return to sport after ACL injury or ACLR during their rehabilitation process. Level of evidence: Level II.