Donor-site-related functional problems following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: development of a self-administered questionnaire

To develop a self-administered questionnaire for the evaluation of donor-site-related functional problems after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with autograft harvested from the hamstring tendon or patellar tendon and to determine the content validity, reliability and preliminary factor structure of this new instrument. Seven physiotherapists with long clinical experience of rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction and 60 patients from the target population participated as experts in the developmental stages of the questionnaire. Content validity was determined and quantified with the content validity index (CVI). Test–retest reliability, internal consistency and factor structure were evaluated in another 64 patients reconstructed with an autograft. The final questionnaire included 16 items on symptoms and function during activities of daily living and exercise. Excellent content validity on both item level (I-CVI ≥ 0.83, range 0.83–1.00) and scale level (S-CVI = 0.93) was found. The test–retest reliability was good, ICC = 0.94. Internal consistency was high, and Cronbach’s α was 0.92 and 0.94 at each test occasion. The principal components analysis yielded a four-component structure. The questionnaire “Donor-site-Related Functional Problems following Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction” is a patient-reported questionnaire with high content validity and reliability for the evaluation of donor-site-related functional problems after ACL reconstruction, with autograft harvested from the hamstring tendon or patellar tendon. The results of this study support the use of this questionnaire as a standardized outcome measure for both research purposes and in clinical settings.