Background: Proprioception, or joint position sense, probably plays an
important role in joint function. A number of studies have shown that proper
joint position sense can decrease the risk of injuries in sports. It is not very clear
how patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) can affect athletes joint position sense
(JPS). Regarding the importance of proper joint position sense for movement
performance and injury prevention in athletes, the aim of this study was to
evaluate knee JPS in athletes with PFPS and compare it with asymptomatic
individuals under non-weight bearing (sitting) conditions.
Methods: The study design was comparative in which 15 patients and 15 healthy
athletes participated. JPS was evaluated by active and passive replication of knee
angles for 30, 45 and 60° of knee flexion target angle while visual cues were
eliminated. Each test was repeated three times. By subtracting the test angle
from the replicated angle, the absolute error was calculated as a dependent
variable. T-statistical test was used to compare data between two groups and
P value of 0.05 was considered as the level of statistical significance.
Results: No significant difference (P<0.05) in active (A) and passive (P) knee
JPS was found between two groups for three (30°, p-value (A =0.79, P=0.68), 45°,
P value (A=0.12, P=0.54) and 60°, P value (A=0.74, P=0.71)) target angles.
Conclusion: According to results, both groups had the same JPS ability, it seems
PFPS does not affect the knee JPS at least in athlete cases. It would be possible
that deficiency of JPS compensated for the physical activity or on the other
hand, maybe pain intensity was not high enough to interfere with JPS accuracy.
According to our results, PFPS doesn’t reduce IPS but further investigation is
needed to disclose if other factors such as skill level, intensity of pain or joint
pathology are effective on JPS accuracy or not
