Knee crepitus is prevalent in women with patellofemoral pain, but is not related with function, physical activity and pain

Abstract

Objectives(i) To assess the reliability of knee crepitus measures, (ii) to investigate the association between knee crepitus and PFP; (iii) to investigate the relationship between knee crepitus with self-reported function, physical activity and pain. DesignCross-sectional. SettingLaboratory-based study. Participants165 women with PFP and 158 pain-free women. Main outcome measuresKnee crepitus test, anterior knee pain scale (AKPS) and self-reported worst knee pain in the last month, knee pain after 10 squats and knee pain after 10 stairs climbing. ResultsKnee crepitus clinical test presented high reliability Kappa value for PFP group was 0.860 and for pain-free group was 0.906. There is a significantly greater proportion of those with crepitus in the PFP group than in the pain-free group (OR = 4.19). Knee crepitus had no relationship with function (rpb = 0.03; p = 0.727), physical activity level (rpb = 0.010; p = 0.193), worst pain (rpb = 0.11; p = 0.141), pain climbing stairs (rpb = 0.10; p = 0.194) and pain squatting (rpb = 0.02; p = 0.802). ConclusionWomen who presents knee crepitus have 4 times greater odds to be in a group with PFP compared to those who do not. However, knee crepitus has no relationship with self-reported clinical outcomes of women with PFP.