Determining domains for return to sport for athletes who have patellar tendinopathy: A Delphi consensus

There is a lack of consensus on which athlete and tendinopathy relevant areas, i.e., domains, should be assessed in return to sport decision making for athletes who have patellar tendinopathy. This may explain the poor rate of successful return to sport and the high rate of recurrence. This protocol describes a Delphi method to reach a consensus of health and exercise professionals and athletes on domains that should be assessed in return to sport decision-making for athletes who have patellar tendinopathy. We will use the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) process as a framework. An international and multi-disciplinary group of health and exercise professionals with expertise in patellar tendinopathy, return to sport, and/or consensus methods will act as a steering committee. They will oversee and independently participate in the Delphi method. We aim to recruit health and exercise professionals and athletes who have patellar tendinopathy as panelists. It is estimated they will engage in three survey rounds and a consensus meeting. Panelists will be asked to vote on which domains should be assessed in return to sport decision-making for athletes who have patellar tendinopathy and are returning to full participation in court, track, or field sports. Consensus will be ascertained separately for health and exercise professionals and athletes, defined as ≥70% ‘yes’ or ‘no’ votes. We have obtained ethical approval for this study from our Institutional Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number: 2024/HE001881). We will disseminate our results via peer-reviewed publication, national and international conferences, and social media platforms.