Activity level, kinesiophobia, and sports injury-related anxiety in professional athletes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Authors

Kadir Tiryaki, Miray Baser, Fatih Özden, Erkan Bingöl, Mehmet Özkeskin, Duygu Yaralı Bingöl, Atakan Çağlayan, İbrahim Çağrı Şanlı, Ahmet İmerci, Zübeyir Sarı

Published in

Frontiers in psychology. Volume 17. Pages 1830247. Epub Jul 27, 2026.

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the associations between anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R) status, activity level, kinesiophobia, and sports injury-related anxiety in professional athletes.
This cross-sectional observational study included 115 athletes post-ACL-R and 153 age- and sex-matched healthy athletes. All participants completed the Tegner Activity Scale, Sports Injury Anxiety Scale, and Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia-Short Version.
Athletes in the ACL-R group demonstrated significantly lower activity levels compared with controls (6.50 ± 2.63 vs. 8.12 ± 2.30, p < 0.001). No significant between-group differences were observed in sports injury-related anxiety (53.94 ± 13.08 vs. 52.77 ± 12.67, p = 0.643) or kinesiophobia (18.13 ± 3.01 vs. 18.05 ± 2.82, p = 0.990). Kinesiophobia and sports injury-related anxiety were significantly positively correlated in both the ACL-R group (r = 0.285, p = 0.002) and the control group (r = 0.365, p < 0.001). Tegner activity level was not significantly correlated with psychological variables in either group. In the ACL-R group, age, surgery year, and return-to-sport time were significant predictors of activity level, whereas sex, injury year, and psychological variables were not significant predictors.
Professional athletes following ACL-R demonstrated lower activity levels than healthy controls, while kinesiophobia and sports injury-related anxiety were comparable between groups. Psychological variables were not independently associated with activity level after adjustment for demographic and injury-related factors.

PMID:
42577097
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Aug 2026.

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