Investigating the effect of stabilization exercises with and without education on pain, function, and psychological factors in individuals with patellofemoral pain

Abstract Objective: To investigate the effect of adding education to trunk and hip exercises in patients with patellofemoral pain (PFP). Design: A randomised controlled trial. Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: Sixty patients with PFP were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (education followed by trunk and hip exercises, n= 30) or a control group (trunk and hip exercises, n= 30). Interventions: Both groups received 8 weeks of trunk and hip exercises, while patients in the experimental group participated in 3 prior education sessions. Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome was pain; secondary outcomes were pain catastrophizing, kinesiophobia, function, and muscle strength. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, after 8 weeks (post-intervention), and 3 months post-intervention (follow-up). Results: No significant between-group differences were observed for pain outcome post-intervention. The experimental group showed superiority over the control group in the improvement of pain catastrophizing (mean difference: -2.32; 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.059 to 0.028) and kinesiophobia (mean difference: -3.56; 95% CI -1.067 to -0.035) at post-intervention. In the experimental group, improvements were maintained at follow-up assessment for all outcomes, except muscle strength. Conclusion: Adding education to trunk and hip exercises was associated with greater improvements in psychological outcomes than trunk and hip exercises alone after the intervention. Education can be incorporated when designing trunk and hip exercises for patients with PFP.