INFLUENCE OF PAIN IN THE ANALYSIS OF PROXIMAL, LOCAL AND DISTAL KINEMATIC PARAMETERS IN FEMALES WITH PATELLOFEMORAL PAIN DURING STAIR ASCENT AND DESCENT

Abstract

One of the most common knee disorders affecting young individuals is Patellofemoral Pain (PFP). Studies have suggested that females have a greater risk of developing this condition. It has been shown that PFP can be exacerbated during functional activities, such as stair ascent and descent. Despite its high incidence, the multifactorial etiology of PFP remains unclear. It has been shown that relationships among proximal, local and distal biomechanical alterations can aid in the understandment of this disorder. However, there are some controversy regarding kinematic findings in individuals with PFP. A reasonable explanation to this controversy is due to intermitent characteristic of pain in these individuals. It is not possible to state that individuals with PFP are really in pain at the time of data collection and consenquently the kinematic parameters may not present alterations when compared to pain-free individuals. Moreover, studies revealed that due to pain the motor control mechanisms may be altered. Thus, this conditon demands an elaboration of a patellofemoral joint loading protocol, capable to standardly exacerbate pain in these individuals. The experimental design proposed by this project, aims to cover these lacks in the literature. Females with and without PFP will be recruited to ascending and descending a seven-step stair inser in experimental set up with 6 three-dimensional cameras to collect proximal (hip), local (knee) and distal(foot)kinematic parameters, before and after a patellofemoral joint loading protocol. With this, the aim of this project is to investigate the kinematic dynamic patterns of proximal, local and distal lower limb parameters in females with and without PFP in two conditions, after and before a patellofemoral joint loading protocol.