This week we talk about "The Cutting Movement Assessment Score (CMAS) Qualitative Screening Tool: Application to Mitigate Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Risk during Cutting" published in Biomechanics in 2021. The Cutting Movement Assessment Score (CMAS) is a 9-item qualitative screening tool to assess hip, knee, foot, and trunk kinematics during 45 to 90 degree cutting tasks. Most items are scored dichotomously (either yes or no). It requires 2-3 cameras and a video analysis software to be able to accurately score the athlete. This should increase the intra and inter-rater reliability of the score. An overall score of 3 is low, 4-6 is moderate, and greater than or equal to 7 is high. In theory, the higher an athlete's score, the more they demonstrate postures and kinematic variables associated with increased ACL injury risk. However, a high score on the CMAS does not necessarily mean an increased risk of ACL injury, and those with a low score can still sustain an ACL injury. The primary purpose of this article was to describe why one would perform the CMAS, how it is performed and scored, and what to do with the information from the test. The test itself is not indicative of ACL injury risk, but could be useful in movement screening for team sport and return to cutting rehabilitation following ACL injury.

The abstract can be found here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-024-02043-y

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