Patellofemoral Ağrı Sendromlu Bireylerde Dizin Farklı Mekanik Yüklenmelerinde

Abstract

The purpose of this study, which is conducted on 25 individuals, ages between 18-40 years, who are diagnosed with unilateral PFPS and 25 individuals who are healthy, is to evaluate the joint position sense (JPS) of the knee under different mechanical loads among individuals with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS). The JPS of the knee was tested with active JPS tests by mechanically loading the knee during supine, prone, sitting, squat, and leg-press positions at the angles of 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°. The average age of the PFPS group was 29.4±7.87 years and that of control group was 26.32±4.43 years (p>0.05). The JPS of the PFPS group showed differences between positions only at the knee flexion angles of 60° and 90°. The control group performed better both at 60°and 90°, differences were visible between prone-sitting, sitting-squat, and sitting-leg-press position pairs and only between prone and squat positions, respectively (p<0.05). There was no difference in terms of JPS in the right and left knees of the individuals in the control group (p>0.05). The healthy knee of the PFPS group was worse than that of the control group for all positions and angles (p<0.05). For both knees of the PFPS group, the most angle error was measured at 90° during the squat position where the knee joint is loaded with closed kinetic chain (CKC). The least angle error was measured during leg-press position, where the knee is under CKC but not loaded. The PFPS group performed worse in terms of the JPS during prone and sitting positions when compared with the control group (p<0.05). Both the knee of the control group and the healthy knee of PFPS group exhibited the most angle error at 60° and sitting, whereas the knee with PFPS performed the worst at 45° and sitting. With this study, it can be concluded that the PFPS inhibits the JPS. Under different loading positions and angles of the knee, its biomechanical properties can affect the proprioceptive responses. The results of this study could guide the future studies in the field of proprioceptive sense evaluation and rehabilitation programs.