Acta Ortop Bras. 2012; 20(1): 34–38. doi: 10.1590/S1413-78522012000100007 PMCID: PMC3718413 PMID: 24453578 Reliability of the "American Knee Society Score" (AKSS) Ana Luiza Cabrera Martimbianco, Fernanda Rizzo Calabrese, Luiz Alberto Nakao Iha, Marcelo Petrilli, Ozório Lira Neto, and Mário Carneiro Filho Author information ► Article notes ► Copyright and License information ► Disclaimer This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Go to: Abstract Go to: Objective To analyze the reproducibility of the "American Knee Society Score" (AKSS) scale, and determine its measurement, in order to make it useful for the evaluation of patients with osteoarthritis or who have undergone total knee arthroplasty. Go to: Methods In the first interview, the AKSS was applied along with the SF-36 and WOMAC (examiner 1). After thirty minutes the same patients answered only the AKSS. After a two week break, a third additional interview with AKSS was applied (examiner 2). Go to: Results We selected 58 patients with a mean age of 67.4 years. In the analysis of reproducibility, by ICC, there was strong inter-examiner and intra-examiner correlation for two AKSS components. In the individual items analysis there was good correlation for "Pain", "Range of Motion", "Flexion contracture" and all items of the AKSS Function component. Validation through the Pearson coefficient showed good correlation between AKSS "Pain," WOMAC "pain" and SF-36 "Pain domain", and good correlation between the AKSS and SF-36 "Functional Capacity domain". Go to: Conclusion The AKSS adapted to Brazilian culture is useful and reliable for the evaluation of individuals with osteoarthritis or those who have undergone TKA. Keywords: Questionnaires, Evaluation, Validation studies, Arthroplasty, replacement, knee Go to: INTRODUCTION Osteoarthritis is one of the most frequent musculoskeletal disorders, responsible for the recurring work incapacity of the individuals affected. Consequently, total knee arthroplasty (TKA), a procedure designed to repair this damaged joint, is among one of the most common orthopedic procedures in the world, and its results are constantly quantified in scientific studies with the objective of evaluating the results of this intervention. Nowadays, the criteria for evaluation of musculoskeletal disorders are being constantly modified, which demonstrates a concern among health professionals, both with discovering whether a particular treatment has obtained the expected result, and with ascertaining its impact on the quality of life, functionality and satisfaction of patients. Standardized evaluation scales and questionnaires are necessary for the quantification and reproduction of such results, thus avoiding misinterpretations and conclusions with limited reliability.1-4 These measurement instruments, based on scoring systems, are applied so as to assess the benefits achieved by the surgical procedure2,5, which can be either specific or generic in nature; however, we suggest the inclusion of both in the evaluation of the individual, since this combination represents the best method of analysis of the surgical results of patients.6,7 Among the generic instruments found in literature, we can cite the SF-36 questionnaire (The Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey), created in 1992, and used worldwide, whose objective is to evaluate the health and quality of life of the individual in a generic manner, without taking into account a specific disease, age or treatment group.8,9 The specific questionnaires used the most often for osteoarthritis and after total knee arthroplasty include WOMAC, the Oxford Knee Score and others; they address parameters such as pain, mobility, gait and level of difficulty in the performance of daily activities.9,10 However, this population of patients is generally elderly, and can present comorbidities that may affect the individuals' levels of mobility and function, regardless of the state of the knee joint, making it a major challenge for any scale to objectively evaluate knee function independent of the patient's general functional capacity.11-13 In 1989,14 the "American Knee Society" group published an examiner-dependent clinical evaluation system known as the "American Knee Society Score" (AKSS) scale, divided into two components. The first assesses the knee clinically through the physical examination (Clinical AKSS - "Knee Score"), and the second assesses the individual's functionality (Functional AKSS - "Function Score"), while both attain a total of 100 points each. The objective of this separation was to make the scoring of the Clinical AKSS independent on the Functional AKSS, not being influenced by variables such as comorbidities and advanced age. The Clinical AKSS evaluates pain, in a total of 50 points, stability, 25 points, and range of motion, 25 points. The maximum score of 100 points is reached when there is no pain, with good alignment of the knee in extension, and at least 125° of range of motion, without any anteroposterior or mediolateral instability. Deductions are made for flexion contracture, loss of extension and poor alignment. The Function AKSS evaluates the walking distance, totaling 50 points, and the act of climbing and descending stairs, 50 points. The maximum score of 100 points is attributed to the individual capable of walking unlimited distances without walking aids, and of climbing and descending stairs normally. Deductions are made for the use of canes, crutches or walking frame. The system for selecting patients evaluated by the AKSS scale is provided through categories: A- unilateral or bilateral (opposite knee replaced successfully), B- unilateral, other knee symptomatic and C- polyarthritis or clinical disease.15-17 The AKSS is currently the scale of choice in the United Kingdom for evaluation between the pre and postoperative results of TKA.16,17 The aim of this study was to analyze the reproducibility of the "American Knee Society Score" (AKSS) scale, in comparison to the SF-36 and WOMAC questionnaires, with the purpose of detecting correlation between these instruments, as well as the reliability of the AKSS for evaluating individuals suffering from osteoarthritis or who have undergone TKA. Go to: METHODS This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Universidade Federal de São Paulo -Escola Paulista de Medicina. Fifty-eight patients from the Knee Group Outpatient Clinic of the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology of Universidade Federal de São Paulo/Escola Paulista de Medicina were selected randomly between January and November 2009. Adult Brazilian individuals of both gender, with a radiological and clinical diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis or who had undergone total knee arthroplasty more than 6 months prior to the start of the study and had not undergone a change of medication or any other procedure, in a period of less than 15 days from the start of the study, were included in the sample. Individuals with neurological pathologies and/or cognitive alterations, with a history of knee joint infection or other disorders in the joints of the lower limbs were excluded from this analysis. Measurements The evaluation of reproducibility was performed through the application of the AKSS to 58 individuals who fulfilled the predetermined inclusion criteria. The appraisers were trained and used standardized physical examination methods in order to minimize inter-examiner variability. All the patients were evaluated in the same position, using the same physical evaluation techniques. The participants were selected at random. In the first evaluation (A1), the AKSS scale was applied together with the WOMAC and SF-36 questionnaires, by examiner 1 (E1). All the patients were reevaluated after thirty minutes (A2) and again after an interval of two weeks (A3) (a sufficiently long time to guarantee that the patients do not remember their answers in the first interview and sufficiently short to guarantee that no significant change occurs in the patient's condition), whereas both evaluations were carried out by examiner 2 (E2). The SF-36 questionnaire includes 36 items that are combined in 8 domains: functional capacity, physical aspects, pain, general state of health, vitality, social aspects, emotional aspects and mental health. The score from 0 to 100 is produced independently by each domain. This instrument was translated into and validated for the Portuguese language.7 The WOMAC is a specific questionnaire for knee osteoarthritis (OA), self-administered and with 3 domains: pain (5 questions), joint stiffness (2 questions) and degrees of difficulty in activities of daily living (17 questions). Each one of the questions is graded on a scale from 0 to 4 points.10 Go to: STATISTICAL ANALYSIS The statistical analysis of the demographic data was conducted in a descriptive manner. The reproducibility of the two components of the AKSS was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), with a confidence interval of 95%, in order to quantify the inter-observer and intra-observer analyses for the total scores of the two components of the scale and the correlation between each item separately. An ICC greater than or equal to 0.70 (p>0.50) (with a sample larger than or equal to 50 individuals) receives positive evaluation. Cronbach's coefficient was used to demonstrate the internal consistency of the analyzed scale (values between 0.70 and 0.95 are accepted as positive).19 The AKSS is derived from an algorithm and contains positive and negative scores, while it is inappropriate to test the internal consistency in the individual correlation of each item.17 The instrument's validity was assessed by the correlation between the "Pain" item of the Clinical AKSS and the Functional AKSS with the corresponding domains of the WOMAC and SF-36 questionnaires, using Pearson's linear correlation coefficient, with a confidence interval of 95% (>0.50, 0.35-0.50, and

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Orthop. surg., head of clinic, spec. orthop./trauma rehab, frankfurt area/G.