1 Before you use it
What it is
The Achilles tendinopathy measure. Eight items — morning stiffness duration, pain with stretching, pain walking on the flat, pain going down stairs, pain on single-leg heel raises, hopping, current activity level, and pain with sport.
Morning stiffness is item one, which is the right emphasis for a tendon.
When to reach for it
Achilles tendinopathy, at baseline and at each loading progression, and at the 12-week decision point.
Also used by extension for Sever's — though it was not validated in a paediatric population, so say so if you use it there.
Patterns it serves · 2
2 Giving it
Scoring
Eight items to 0–100. Higher is better. An asymptomatic person scores 100.
What it doesn’t measure
Heel raise capacity, which is the objective measure that matters most here. Count single-leg heel raises to fatigue, both sides.
And it does not distinguish mid-portion from insertional — different conditions, different loading.
Repeat it
3 Reading the score
Interpreting it
Interpret against baseline.
The single-leg heel raise and hopping items are your loading progression in questionnaire form — they move as the programme works.
Is the change real?
On placement
Mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy, runner, 12 weeks of progressive loading. VISA-A 54 at intake, 71 today.
Read it as 17 points up, over the 14-point MCID at 12 weeks (measured in Achilles tendinopathy; the CI is wide, 3 to 19, and the figure falls to 7 points by 24 weeks). Meaningful. The heel-raise and hopping items are the loading programme in questionnaire form — check they are the ones that moved.
Do progress toward the hop and run items still scoring low, and re-score at 24 weeks against the lower threshold.
Student trap. Not counting heel raises alongside it. The questionnaire is the patient's account; the raise count is the capacity.
Official source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. We don't host the form.
This is a learning tool. It does not diagnose patients and does not replace your clinical educator.
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