NEUROMUSCULAR CONTROL OF THE KNEE AND HIP AND ITS RELATION TO FUNCTION IN WOMEN WITH PAIN PATELLOFEMORAL

Abstract

Women with patellofemoral pain (PFP) have a high rate of pain recurrence, which results in decreased quality of life and limited performance of functional activities. Furthermore, deficits in lower limb muscle capacity may be present in this population. The reduction in maximum strength as well as the rate of development of hip and knee torque may be associated with objective and subjective function in women with PFP, but this relationship is still little explored. In this sense, the objective of this study is to compare objective and subjective function in women with and without PFP, compare variables of neuromuscular control of the hip and knee in women with and without PFP and determine the relationship between objective and subjective function and neuromuscular control of the hip. and knee in women with PFP. Women with PPD, aged between 18-35 years, will participate in this study. Initially, anamnesis will be carried out to verify the volunteer's eligibility and the Anterior Knee Pain Scale (AKPS) questionnaire will be applied to assess subjective function. Subsequently, objective function will be assessed using four tests: step down, single-leg chair rise, anterior jump and lateral jump. On the second day of the laboratory visit, knee extensor, knee flexor, hip extensor and hip abductor torque will be assessed on the isokinetic dynamometer. The protocol will consist of 3 concentric contractions for each movement evaluated, at a speed of 60º/sec for the knee joint and 30º/sec for the hip joint. For analysis of dynamometric data, the data will be normalized by the volunteers' body mass and the peak torque, time to reach peak torque and the rate of torque development will be calculated for all movements evaluated. For statistical analysis, the normality of the data will initially be checked using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Subsequently, the independent t-test will be applied to compare variables between groups and a correlation test to determine the association between the analyzed variables. The significance level adopted will be p<0.05.