Sex differences in physical activity engagement after ACL reconstruction

Objectives: To investigate the effects of sex as an effect modifier of objectively measured moderate-tovigorous physical activity (MVPA) in individuals following ACLR and healthy controls. Design: Cross-sectional research study. Setting: University community. Participants: 59 participants (42.4% male) with a history of ACLR and 55 healthy control participants (40.0% male). Main outcome measures: Participants were outfitted with an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer for a period of 7 days to assess MVPA. Weekly time engaged in MVPA (in bouts >= 10 min), % of total time engaged in MVPA, and odds of meeting national physical activity guidelines (MVPA >= 150 min/wk) were compared between males and females with a history of ACLR and healthy controls. Results: There were significant sex X group interactions for weekly MVPA (p = 0.02) and % total time in MVPA (p = 0.01). The odds of a female ACLR participant meeting national physical activity guidelines were significantly worse (X-2 = 4.18, OR = 2.54, CI95 = 1.03-6.27) when compared to participants without ACLR. Conclusions: Female participants with ACLR were found to be less active than healthy control participants and their odds of meeting national MVPA guidelines were also 2.54 times worse than healthy participants. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.