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Exercise therapy deemed best for patellofemoral pain
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Recent results from a randomized, controlled trial suggest that supervised exercise therapy is more effective at reducing severe patellofemoral pain and improving function than rest.
A total of 131 participants aged between 14 and 40 years with patellofemoral pain syndrome were included in the study. Sixty-five patients were assigned to a supervised exercise program (intervention group) and 66 to usual care of rest (control group).
According to a press release, the intervention group received a standardized exercise program for 6 weeks tailored to individual performance and supervised by a physical therapist, and were instructed to practice the tailored exercises at home for 3 months. The control group was assigned more typical care comprised of a “wait-and-see” approach of rest during periods of pain, according to the abstract.
Patients rated their recovery, pain at rest, pain during activity, and function scores at the start of the study and again at 3 and 12 months.
After 3 months, the intervention group reported significantly less pain and better function than the control group. At 12 months, the intervention group continued to show better outcomes than the control group with regard to pain at rest and pain during activity, but not function.
A higher proportion of patients in the exercise group than in the control group reported recovery (42% vs. 35% at 3 months and 62% vs. 51% at 12 months, respectively), but these results were not significantly different between the two groups, according to the press release.
The study provides evidence that supervised exercise therapy for patellofemoral pain syndrome in general practice resulted in less pain and is more effective than usual care for pain at rest, pain on activity, and function at 3 months, the authors wrote. However, supervised exercise therapy had little effect on perceived recovery.
Further research is needed to understand how exercise therapy results in better outcomes, they added.
The findings were published in the British Medical Journal.
References:
- Van Linschoten R, van Middelkoop M, Berger MY, et al. Supervised exercise therapy versus usual care for patellofemoral pain syndrome: An open label randomised controlled trial. Brit Med J. 2009;339:b4074.
- www.bmj.com