In patients suffering from a lateral ankle sprain; swelling, tenderness, and ecchymosis don’t correlate with time to functional recovery. It has been known that psychosocial factors like symptoms of depression and low pain self-efficacy correlate with pain intensity and magnitude of limitations in patients with musculoskeletal problems.

The connection between pain self-efficacy or symptoms of depression along with ankle specific limitations and pain intensity in patients suffering from lateral ankle sprain were explored. Also, the correlation between estimation of sprain severity (grade) and (3) pain intensity or magnitude of ankle specific limitations has been discussed.

Three weeks after the surgery, a total of 84 patients with a lateral ankle sprain prospectively accomplished the Pain Self Efficacy Questionnaire, the Olerud Molander Ankle Score, Ordinal scale of Pain and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 at enrollment and the Olerud Molander Ankle Score and the Ordinal scale of Pain. In the bivariable and multivariable analysis, the factors related to higher ankle specific limitations and symptoms were estimated.

When describing the confounding factors, greater self-efficacy (p = 0.01) and older age (p < 0.01) were significantly associated with greater ankle specific symptoms and limitations three weeks after the injury. This elucidated for 22% of the variability in ankle specific limitations and symptoms. No correlation was observed between the grade of the sprain and pain intensity or ankle specific limitations or symptoms.

It was thus concluded that the psychosocial factors (adaptiveness in response to pain in particular) elucidate more of the variation in symptoms and limitations after ankle sprain than the degree of pathophysiology. The influence of adaptive illness descriptions and recovery strategies as per the methods for improving self-efficacy (i.e. cognitive behavioral therapy) might intensify and speed recovery from ankle injuries and merit additonal examination.