Riassunto dello studio

Fifty patients with unilateral patellofemoral knee pain were randomized to receive a knee brace combined with an educational pamphlet for 2 weeks or the educational pamphlet alone. The primary outcome of interest was the level of kinesiophobia, assessed through the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia. The secondary outcomes of interest included levels of pain, function and physical activity assessed with the Anterior Knee Pain Scale (AKPS), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and the forward step-down test. Additional outcomes of interest included the incidence of adverse events and compliance with treatment. All outcomes were measured at baseline, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks post-intervention. The results revealed that self-reported kinesiophobia was statistically significantly improved in the knee brace group compared to the control at both 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-intervention (p=0.003 for both). However, all remaining outcomes were not statistically significantly different between the 2 groups, at both timepoints.