Treatment Effects on Neuromuscular Properties on Young Women Symptomatic for Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

Summary

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) is characterized by diffuse pain around the knee joint. This presence of pain is the most common manifestation in sports medicine among adults and young people. Women are more likely to develop PFPS. Among the young adult population, it is estimated that 13% of the women are affected by PFPS. There is a consensus among clinicians that PFPS etiology is multifactorial, including local factors (structures present or acting directly on the patellofemoral joint) and nonlocal factors \[extrinsic to the patellofemoral joint, including proximal factors (hip, trunk and pelvis), and distal factors (ankle and foot)\]. PFPS is not a degenerative syndrome, and conservative treatment offers good results. However, the most appropriate therapeutic approach is still unclear, and the rate of nonresponders to treatment is high. One of the possible explanations for failure of the therapeutic intervention is that the triggering mechanisms of PFPS are not the same for all subjects, and probably some patients cannot be reached by standard treatment. The traditional intervention model focuses on the strengthening of the knee extensor muscles, but recent literature has pointed out that multi-articular treatment models (i.e., exercises for the proximal or distal factors, in addition to exercises for the quadriceps) have shown better results. It is believed that the elaboration of treatment protocols combining local and non-local factors, present greater responsiveness and results retention, thus reducing treatment failure. Based on this, and due to the lack of experimental studies that aimed to compare the effects of a multi-articular intervention protocol combining local and non-local factors in women affected by PFPS, this study aims to evaluate the effects of two multi-articular intervention protocols based on exercises (1) for the proximal and local factors versus (2) for the distal and local factors on the clinical, functional and neuromechanical outcomes of young women with PFPS. Participants of the PFPS group will be submitted to one of two intervention models for an 12-week rehabilitation program. Model 1 will be composed of exercises focusing on local and proximal PFPS factors, and Model 2 will be composed of exercises focused on the local and distal factors.

Conditions

• Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

Interventions

OTHER

Model 1

Model 1 will be composed of exercises focusing on local (knee) and proximal (hip) factors.

OTHER

Model 2

Model 2 will be composed of exercises focused on the local (knee) and distal (ankle and foot) factors.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Marco Vaz, PhD · Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

42 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-10-01

Primary Completion

2019-12-20

Completion

2021-07-30

Countries

• Brazil

Study Locations