Do patellofemoral pain patients have higher loading rate compared to healthy indivalues? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose: Higher loading rates have been associated with injuries, plantar fasciitis, tibia bone stress injuries, knee osteoarthritis and PFP. The aim of this study is the evaluation of loading rate in PFP patients compared to healthy individuals during weight bearing tasks. Methods: Search strategy was conducted in databases: Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar. The outcome measuring: loading rate were during weight bearing tasks. The quality of the studies was evaluated by Down and Black index and it was divided into three groups: low quality (LQ), medium quality (MQ) and high quality (HQ). The standardized mean difference between PFP patients and healthy individuals was used to calculate the effect size. Results: Seven articles were included of that 4 studies was HQ and 3 MQ were classified. The no significant difference between PFP patients and healthy individuals in the loading rate (p = 0.52); But strong evidence with medium effect size (SMD = 0.50; 95% CI= [- 1.01 to 2.00]) indicates a tendency to increase loading rates in PFP patients compared to healthy individuals. Conclusion: The compensatory mechanism in PFP patients, decrease of active shock absorption which finally leads to higher loading rates that can have effect on the tibiofemoral joint that correlating to the development of pain and knee osteoarthritis.