IKDC Score - Subjective Knee Evaluation Form

Helps evaluate knee level of function based on patient-reported measures from symptoms to daily activities.

Refer to the text below the calculator for more information about the International Knee Documentation Committee and their knee outcomes measure.

This is a multiple item knee-specific patient-reported outcome measure recognized as one of the most reliable outcome reporting tools in its category, being also a quick to administer tool (taking around 10 minutes to complete).

The IKDC Subjective Knee Evaluation Form is the standard form for use in all publications on results of treatment of knee ligament injuries.

There are three main domains evaluated: symptoms, sports activity and knee function.

  • The symptoms subscale focuses on pain, stiffness, swelling and giving-way of the knee.
  • The sports activity subscale evaluates functions like going up and down the stairs, rising from a chair, squatting and jumping.
  • The knee function subscale helps evaluate the patient’s perception of the knee function at present versus that prior to injury.

The higher the score, the higher the level of function and the lower the level of symptoms. A score of 100 suggests no limitation with activities of daily living or sports activities and the absence of symptoms.

Symptoms

Instruction: Grade symptoms at the highest activity level at which you think you could function without significant symptoms, even if you are not actually performing activities at this level.

1

What is the highest level of activity that you can perform without significant knee pain?

2

During the past 4 weeks, or since your injury, how often have you had pain?

Instruction: Move the slider to the chosen position on the 0 - 10 scale, where 0 means "Never" and 10 means "Constant".

0
3

If you have pain, how severe is it?

Instruction: Move the slider to the chosen position on the 0 - 10 scale, where 0 means "No pain" and 10 means "Worst pain imaginable".

0
4

During the past 4 weeks, or since your injury, how stiff or swollen was your knee?

5

What is the highest level of activity you can perform without significant swelling in your knee?

6

During the past 4 weeks, or since your injury, did your knee lock or catch?

7

What is the highest level of activity you can perform without significant giving way in your knee?

Sports Activities

8

What is the highest level of activity you can participate in on a regular basis?

9

How does your knee affect your ability to:

9.a

Go up stairs

9.b

Go down stairs

9.c

Kneel on the front of your knee

9.d

Squat

9.e

Sit with your knee bent

9.f

Rise from a chair

9.g

Run straight ahead

9.h

Jump and land on your involved leg

9.i

Stop and start quickly

Function

10

Function of your knee

Instruction: How would you rate the function of your knee on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being normal, excellent function and 0 being the inability to perform any of your usual daily activities which may include sports.

10.a

Function prior to your knee injury

Instruction: Move the slider to the chosen position on the 0 - 10 scale, where 0 means "Couldn’t perform daily activities" and 10 means "No limitation in daily activities".

0
10.b

Current function of your knee

Instruction: Move the slider to the chosen position on the 0 - 10 scale, where 0 means "Can’t perform daily activities" and 10 means "No limitation in daily activities".

0
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Steps on how to print your input & results:

1. Fill in the calculator/tool with your values and/or your answer choices and press Calculate.

2. Then you can click on the Print button to open a PDF in a separate window with the inputs and results. You can further save the PDF or print it.

Please note that once you have closed the PDF you need to click on the Calculate button before you try opening it again, otherwise the input and/or results may not appear in the pdf.

 

The IKDC Subjective Knee Evaluation Form

The International Knee Documentation Committee was founded in 1987 and in time have developed several iterations of the questionnaire that is now known as the Subjective Knee Evaluation Form.

This is a multiple item knee-specific patient-reported outcome measure recognized as one of the most reliable outcome reporting tools in its category, being also a quick to administer tool (taking around 10 minutes to complete).

Currently this is the standard form for use in all publications on results of treatment of knee ligament injuries.

There are three main domains evaluated: symptoms, sports activity, and knee function. The symptoms subscale focuses on pain, stiffness, swelling and giving-way of the knee.

The sports activity subscale evaluates functions like going up and down the stairs, rising from a chair, squatting and jumping whilst the knee function subscale helps evaluate the patient’s perception of the knee function at present versus that prior to injury.

The IKDC Subjective Knee Evaluation Form is used to evaluate the knee in a variety of knee disorders, such as osteoarthritis, ligamentous and meniscal injuries or patellofemoral dysfunction.

However, please be aware that no normative data has yet been established for IKDC and as a patient-reported outcome measure for knee problems, it has limited value in patients with general leg pathology.

 

Calculating the IKDC Score

Responses to each of the items are commonly scored on scales from 0 to 4 or 10. By consensus, scores closer to 0 represent the lowest level of function or highest level of symptoms whilst scores closer to the higher boundary represent the highest level of function, respectively the lower level of symptoms.

The IKDC Subjective Knee Evaluation Form is scored by summing the scores of the individual items then transforming the score on the scale from 0 to 100 (by dividing the sum by 87, the total maximum possible score) then multiplying by 100.

The higher the score, the higher the level of function and the lower the level of symptoms. A score of 100 suggests no limitation with activities of daily living or sports activities and the absence of symptoms.

 

References

Rossi MJ, Lubowitz JH, Guttmann D. Development and validation of the International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form. Am J Sports Med. 2002; 30(1):152.

Irrgang JJ, Anderson AF, Boland AL, Harner CD, Kurosaka M, Neyret P, et al. Development and validation of the International Knee Documentation Committee subjective knee form. Am J Sports Med. 2001; 29:600–13.

Collins NJ, Misra D, Felson DT, Crossley KM, Roos EM. Measures of knee function: International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Subjective Knee Evaluation Form, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Physical Function Short Form (KOOS-PS), Knee Outcome Survey Activities of Daily Living Scale (KOS-ADL), Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale, Oxford Knee Score (OKS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Activity Rating Scale (ARS), and Tegner Activity Score (TAS). Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2011; 63 Suppl 11(0 11):S208-28.

Agel J, LaPrade RF. Assessment of differences between the modified Cincinnati and International Knee Documentation Committee patient outcome scores: a prospective study. Am J Sports Med. 2009; 37:2151–7.

Specialty: Orthopedics

Objective: Evaluation

Abbreviation: IKDC

Article By: Denise Nedea

Published On: November 15, 2020 · 12:00 AM

Last Checked: November 15, 2020

Next Review: November 15, 2025