Clinical evaluation of knee joint diseases

Purpose

This article aimed to comprehensively introduce clinical scoring of pathological conditions of the knee.

Methods

Review articles on the clinical scores of knee joints were searched. The frequency of the clinical scores used in said articles are presented as whole-knee pathological conditions or according to specific knee diseases. Frequently used scoring systems are separately explained in terms of validity and clinically important values.

Results

Of 132 review articles, 95 were included in this review. Among these 95, the top five frequently used scoring systems were the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form (IKDC subjective score), Knee Society Score (KSS), and Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale. Patient-reported outcome measures to evaluate patients’ health-related quality of life, such as the EuroQol 5 dimensions (EQ5D), MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and SF-12 Health Survey (SF-12), were frequently used. Activity and functional ratings, such as the Tegner activity score and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Activity Scale, were also frequently used. Usage trends of scoring systems differed according to the pathological conditions of the knee, and some disease-specific scoring systems, such as the Kujala score for patellofemoral problems or Forgotten Joint Score for arthroplasty, have been reported.

Conclusions

Various scoring systems are used for pathological conditions of the knee. Even for knee diseases, trends in scoring systems differ according to pathological conditions, necessitating the selection of appropriate scoring systems.