What is the evidence for exercise for treatment of patellofemoral pain syndrome?
AMSTAR Rating
Summary
Patient Population:
1690 (31 trials) adolescents and adults with patellofemoral pain syndrome.
Intervention:
Review included comparisons of exercise therapy versus control (e.g. no treatment) or versus another non-surgical therapy; or of different exercises or exercise programmes.
Comparison:
Control (e.g. no treatment) or another non-surgical therapy; or of different exercises or exercise programmes.
Outcome:
Pain
Exercise versus control (no treatment): Pooled data from five studies (375 participants) for pain during activity (short-term) favoured exercise therapy: mean difference (MD) -1.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) -2.39 to -0.54. The same finding applied for usual pain (short-term; two studies, 41 participants), pain during activity (long-term; two studies, 180 participants) and usual pain (long-term; one study, 94 participants).
Hip and Knee versus Knee exercise alone: Pooled data from three studies (104 participants) for pain during activity (short-term) favoured hip and knee exercise: MD -2.20, 95% CI -3.80 to -0.60; the CI included a clinically important effect.
Function
Exercise versus control (no treatment): Pooled data from seven studies (483 participants) for functional ability (short-term and long-term) also favoured exercise therapy.
Hip and Knee versus Knee exercise alone: Neither were shown to have a superior functional benefit.
Outcomes Assessed
- Benefit
- Harm
- Inconclusive
Exercise v. no treatment
Pain
Function
Hip and knee v. knee alone exercise
Pain
Function
Relevant Clinical Info
The authors state “… 88 more participants per 1000 recovered in the long term (12 months) as a result of exercise therapy.”
Participant Information
the sample size was 1690
their were 31 studies used.
