Remote Step Rate and Load Based Interventions in Runners With Patellofemoral Pain

Randomised Control Trial of Remote Step Rate and Load Based Interventions in Runners With Patellofemoral Pain

The goal of this clinical trial is to explore two remote running programs in runners with patellofemoral pain. One program asks runners to increase their step rate and reduce their training load, while the other asks runners to only reduce their training load. The study will compare these two programs with a control group who continue running as usual. It will also examine whether changes in running load and psychosocial factors are related to changes in pain and function.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Can these remote running programs reduce knee pain and improve function in runners with patellofemoral pain compared to the control group?
• Is reducing training load plus increasing step rate more effective than reducing training load alone?
• Are changes in running load, step rate, psychological and social factors related to improvements in pain and function? Researchers will compare a step rate increase plus load reduction group, a load reduction only group, and a control group to see which approach leads to the greatest improvements in pain and function.

Participants will:

• Complete online questionnaires about knee pain, knee function, and related psychosocial factors
• Share running load data from their watch using an online platform
• Follow 4 weeks of instructions based on their assigned group
• Complete follow-up surveys 1, 2 and 6 months after the 4-week intervention period.

Inclusion Criteria:

• currently running more than twice a week and ≥ 30 mins in total per week.
• participants were required to have pain behind or adjacent to the patella (of at least 20 out of 100 pain on a 0-100 visual analogue scale from "no pain" to "worst imaginable pain") whilst running.
• participants were required to experience low level pain (at least 20 out of 100 on a visual analogue) during one or more of the following activities: squatting, kneeling, prolonged sitting, walking up or downstairs.
• duration of patellofemoral pain symptoms was required to be 3 months or greater prior to participation.
• participants were required to have a compatible running watch that they were happy to onboard to DashLX to share their running load metrics
• be willing to take part in a study that may ask them to alter their running load.

Exclusion Criteria:

• currently suffering from any lower limb injuries (e.g. to hip, knee, calf, foot etc) or having sustained any such injury in the past 3 months
• currently undergoing any other forms of treatment for the knee pain
• having a neurological impediment affecting gait
• currently pregnant or within 3 months of giving birth
• suffer from any cardiovascular pathology