The MOS 36-item short-form health survey is a generic, patient-based health assessment tool. It has been used to assess functional outcome for many medical conditions, both acute and chronic. The use of this survey in evaluating the effects of treatment of any specific disease or injury allows comparison of treatments across a broad spectrum of disease categories. The purpose of this study was to see if this assessment tool could 1) be used to identify those patients requiring anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, 2) detect changes in the patients with treatment over time, and 3) correlate with the commonly used knee assessment scales. The short-form health survey could not identify those patients requiring anterior cruciate ligament reconstructive surgery. However, it did show important and significant changes with treatment (surgical and nonsurgical) over time. There was a significant correlation between the short-form health survey and the Lysholm and International Knee Documentation Committee scores during this study. The addition of the MOS 36-item short-form health survey to our traditional knee ligament evaluation tools is encouraged. Its use will permit the orthopaedic community to demonstrate the value of our treatment of anterior cruciate ligament injuries to health care planners and generalist physicians.

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