Clinical assessment in sports therapy

This chapter will discuss methodology in clinical assessment for sports therapy. A number of strategies, models and approaches – drawn from the wider fields of clinical sports and exercise medicine, orthopaedics, physiotherapy, osteopathy, athletic training and sports science – are presented in context with a consideration for how these may be incorporated into sports therapy practice. The chapter will also present implications of using clinical reasoning to reach working hypotheses and differential diagnoses, alongside an appreciation of factors that can influence the selection of interventions, and how these may affect the overall patient/athlete management plan. The consultation process will be explained, including an exploration of theories of best practice and the subtleties of undertaking a reliable and efficient patient history, including the identification of important nuances which underpin the therapeutic relationship. Following this, the principles and components of objective physical assessment will be presented, including structuring the process of examination and appreciating reliability and validity. Regional assessment approaches and specific techniques are discussed in the regional chapters of this book.