Anterior knee pain and its intrinsic risk factors among runners in under-resourced communities in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.
Siyabonga H Kunene, Serela Ramklass, Nomathemba P Taukobong
PMID 30349876WHAT IT FOUND
Anterior knee pain affected 40% of runners in under-resourced communities.
Quadriceps weakness, hip muscle dysfunction, tight hamstrings and iliotibial bands, and patellar tilt were linked to the pain. Screening for these specific physical traits can help target prevention and rehabilitation.
Key findings
01Anterior knee pain was present in 73 (40%) of the 183 runners screened.
02Quadriceps weakness, hip muscle dysfunction, hamstring tightness, iliotibial band tightness, and patellar tilt abnormalities were significantly associated with anterior knee pain.
03General joint laxity, leg length discrepancy, foot pronation, and patellar hypermobility were not associated with anterior knee pain in this group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used convenience sampling from six specific clubs, which may not represent all runners in under-resourced communities. The reliability of the patellar tilt and glide tests used was reported as low (ICC 0.20–0.50), making the association between patellar alignment and pain less certain. The cross-sectional design cannot prove that these physical traits caused the knee pain; they may have developed as a result of it or be unrelated. The sample size (183) was calculated for a margin of error of 5%, but the discussion notes that the absence of associations for some factors (like joint laxity) might be due to the small sample size.
Declared interests
The study was conducted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal. No specific funding sources or commercial conflicts of interest are mentioned in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that screening for general joint laxity, foot pronation, or leg length discrepancy will identify runners at risk for anterior knee pain. These factors were not significantly associated with pain in this study, despite being commonly cited in other literature.