Optimized Referral of Knee Patients at the Clinic of Sports Injuries

Knee Injuries, Knee; Injury, Meniscus (Lateral) (Medial)

The aim of the study is to evaluate an algorithm to screen patients with a possibility of meniscal injury referred to a sports injury outpatient clinic by using patient-reported symptoms. It will be investigated whether the algorithm is able to identify which patients are deemed relevant to undergo assessment by a physician (i.e. in case the patient need to undergo surgery) and which patients are relevant to undergo assessment by a physiotherapist. This will be evaluated by estimating the sensitivity of the new algorithm compared to actual relevancy based on the traditional clinical assessment of the patients.

According to current practice, patients referred to the Clinic of Sports Injuries will be assessed by either a physician or a physiotherapist. Current practice will continue unchanged during this study. Before the scheduled assessment, patients will be asked to fulfill a questionnaire including KOOS, a further description of symptoms, previous treatment by physiotherapist and expected upcoming treatment (i.e. surgery or referral to physiotherapist). An algorithm based on the self-reported information will be used to categorize whether the patient are considered relevant to be referred to assessment by a physician or to assessment by a physiotherapist. After clinical assessment of the patient, the physician or physiotherapist does a registration of diagnosis, choice of treatment and complexity. Based on choice of treatment and complexity, the patient will be categorized as either relevant to be referred to assessment by a physician or to assessment by a physiotherapist. This categorization is by definition considered correct. The ability of the algorithm will be evaluated by comparing it's categorization to the correct result. Sensitivity will be estimated.

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