Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41660291›Full record

ArticleOrthopaedic journal of sports medicine2026

The Sport Publication Observational Research Tool (SPORT): An Objective Tool to Score the Methodological Quality of Observational Clinical Sports Medicine Research.

Andrew W Kuhn, Paul M Inclan, Ameer A Haider, Michele N Christy, Warren R Dunn, Laura Alberton, Christina Allen, Kyle Anderson, James Andrews, Frank Azar and 46 more

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Article in Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

56 authors.

Andrew W KuhnDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1836-7575
Paul M InclanDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Science, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0819-0446
Ameer A HaiderSchool of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4510-2505
Michele N ChristyDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Warren R DunnMarshfield Clinic, Weston, Wisconsin, USA.
Laura AlbertonScripps Health, La Jolla, California, USA.
Christina AllenYale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Kyle AndersonAnderson Sports Medicine, Bingham Farms, Michigan, USA.
James AndrewsAndrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center; American Sports Medicine Institute, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Frank AzarCampbell Clinic, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Geoffrey BaerUniversity of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Michael BanffyCedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Asheesh BediUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Stephen BrockmeierUniversity of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Robert BrophyWashington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Charles Bush-JosephMidwest Orthopaedics at Rush, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
James CareyUniversity of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Thomas CarterBanner-University Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Steven CohenRothman Orthopaedic Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Lutul FarrowCleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
David FlaniganThe Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Corinna FranklinYale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Sharon HameUniversity of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Terzidis IoannisThessaloniki Minimally Invasive Surgery (The-MIS) Orthopaedic Centre, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Sheeba JosephMichigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Keith KenterUniversity of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
Jason KohNorthshore University Health System, Skokie, Illinois, USA.
Aaron KrychMayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Lance LeClereVanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Cassandra LeeUniversity of California, Davis, Sacramento, California, USA.
Bruce LevyOrlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, Orlando, Florida, USA.
David McAllisterUniversity of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Michael MedveckyYale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Christina MorgantiAnne Arundel Medical Center Orthopedics, Annapolis, Maryland, USA.
Volker MusahlUniversity of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Bradley NelsonUniversity of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Frank NoyesNoyes Knee Institute; Cincinnati SportsMedicine Research and Education Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Brett OwensWarren Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Lee PaceChildren's Health Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Plano, Texas, USA.
Lonnie PaulosHoly Cross Hospital-Jordan Valley, Cottonwood Heights, Utah, USA.
Lauren RedlerColumbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Scott RodeoHospital for Special Surgery, New York, New York, USA.
Marc SafranStanford University, Redwood City, California, USA.
Felix SavoieTulane School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisianna, USA.
Donald ShelbourneShelbourne Knee Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Seth ShermanStanford University, Redwood City, California, USA.
Ken SingerSlocum Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Matthew SmithWashington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Bertrand Sonnery-CottetCentre Orthopédique Santy, Lyon, France.
Andrea SpikerUniversity of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Michael StuartMayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Russell WarrenHospital for Special Surgery, New York, New York, USA.
Jocelyn WittsteinDuke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Michelle WolcottUniversity of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Rick WrightVanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Matthew J MatavaDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: A critical component of conducting systematic reviews or meta-analyses is assessing the methodological quality and bias of included studies. Several methodological quality assessment tools have been developed; however, these tools may not be relevant to observational sports medicine research, which carries numerous unique nuances and biases. Purpose: To develop the Sport Publication Observational Research Tool (SPORT), which evaluates and scores the methodological quality of observational sports medicine research. Study Design: Consensus statement. Methods: SPORT was developed through a modified Delphi approach involving members from the Herodicus Society and The FORUM. All active members were invited to participate in the process aimed at building consensus on SPORT content and scoring. After finalizing SPORT, a power analysis led to the independent selection of 55 observational clinical sports medicine studies, which were scored twice by 4 reviewers of varying training levels. Interrater and intrarater reliability for SPORT was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The distribution and percentiles for total SPORT score across the 55 studies were calculated. SPORT was also compared with the methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS), a commonly utilized quality assessment tool. Results: A total of 51 members participated and achieved 100%, 100%, 98.0%, and 98.0% completion rates for rounds 1 through 4, respectively. The final SPORT included 19 subscores related to methodological quality and bias and achieved 94% consensus approval. Mean SPORT completion time was 6 minutes and 19 seconds per study, which varied significantly by reviewer training level. The subscore "peer review" demonstrated unacceptable reliability and was removed. The remaining 18 subscores exhibited ICC ranges of 0.599 to 0.955 for interrater reliability and 0.530 to 0.936 for intrarater reliability. Total SPORT score demonstrated excellent agreement, for interrater (ICC, 0.967) and intrarater reliability (ICC, 0.966). Median SPORT score across the 55 studies was 20.0 and skewed toward lower scores. There was a moderate significant correlation between SPORT and MINORS ( Conclusion: An objective tool to assess the methodologic quality of observational sports medicine research (SPORT) was successfully developed through a modified Delphi approach with numerous content experts in the field. This tool may be useful in assessing the methodological quality of primary observational sports medicine studies included in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

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biaseducationmethodologyresearchstatistics

Identifiers

PMID41660291
PMCPMC12881309

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.