Clinical assessment of ankle injury outcomes: case scenario using the foot and ankle ability measure

PATIENT SCENARIO: A 20-y-old male Division 1 college basketball player sustained a grade 2 inversion ankle sprain during preseason that is preventing him from practicing and competing. CLINICAL OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT: The Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) was administered to the injured athlete as an evaluative tool to provide the clinician with valuable subjective information on the patient's self-reported function. The FAAM consists of 2 subscales: the activities of daily living (ADL) subscale and the sports subscale. Together the 2 subscales contain 29 questions (21 questions on the ADL and 8 on the sports subscale), which assess self-reported function and disability in the foot and ankle. CLINICAL DECISION MAKING: The addition of the self-reported functional measures provides the clinician with more quantitative data to make clinical decisions than is possible with typical clinical exams. Self-reported functional assessments should not replace thorough clinical examination or sound clinical judgment; instead they should be an adjunct to them. CLINICAL BOTTOM LINE: In addition to our objective assessment tools, the FAAM provides clinicians with a tool that can be used to assess function and disability through our patients' self-reported responses. When used for evaluative purposes the FAAM can measure an individual's changes in function and disability over time.