Arcadia assistant professor of Physical Therapy, Dr. Ryan Zarzycki, recently published a research article titled “Female Athletes With Better Psychological Readiness Are at Higher Risk for Second ACL Injury After Primary ACL Reconstruction” in Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach (a secondary analysis from the ACL SPORTS clinical trial).  

Thirty-nine female athletes participated in the study. Zarzycki and his co-authors found that athletes after ACL reconstruction with higher psychological readiness to return to sports were at greater risk of a second ACL injury.  As a result of this finding, the authors urged advising athletes to delay their return to sports after an ACL reconstruction to reduce the risk of further injury.

Zarzycki has worked at Arcadia since 2018 in the Physical Therapy department. His research interests lie in athletes after traumatic knee injury with an emphasis on ACL injuries.