None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Participants will be evaluated via an online survey with questions about knee pain, digital and health literacy, self-reported knee-related function, kinesiophobia and knee-related quality of life. Then, they will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. Participants in group 1 will be offered a 6 week online education and exercise program to guide them with self-management of their pain and will be reassessed after 6 weeks. Participants in group 2 will perform the baseline and receive a delayed access to the same program (i.e. after the 6 week follow up assessment). All participants will be followed up again at 12 weeks.
Interventions
Participants in the Web-based education and exercise group will receive access to a website (www.mykneecap.trekeducation.org) for 6 weeks. The website is designed to educate participants with knee pain on how to self-manage their knee pain based on the current evidence, along with a self-directed exercise-therapy program. This website consists of a public access area which includes three main sections: (1) Understanding patellofemoral pain; (2) Treatment options and (3) Exercise program. In all
Participants in the Web-based education and exercise group will receive access to a website (www.mykneecap.trekeducation.org) for 6 weeks. The website is designed to educate participants with knee pain on how to self-manage their knee pain based on the current evidence, along with a self-directed exercise-therapy program. This website consists of a public access area which includes three main sections: (1) Understanding patellofemoral pain; (2) Treatment options and (3) Exercise program. In all sections, the content will be provided using a mix of resources, such as animated videos, infographics and small paragraphs of text. - The “Understanding patellofemoral pain” section provides information covering a variety of subjects including diagnosis, prognosis, incidence and prevalence, crepitus, kinesiophobia, self-management of exercise load and self-management of pain. - The “Treatment options” section includes treatment options that can be beneficial (taping/bracing, foot orthosis and exercises) and information about common treatments with inconsistent evidence (knee surgery, ultrasound, platelet-rich-plasma, dry needling and others). - The “Exercise program” section is focused in 4 types of exercise (bridges, planks, squats and hip abduction), based primarily on a previously published exercise-therapy trial (Barton et al. doi:10.1016/j.ptsp.2019.04.010). The participants will have access to videos designed to help them performing the exercises proposed in the “exercise program” section. Options about how to progress the exercises will be also provided. Participants will be instructed to perform the exercise program which consists of four exercises (one exercise of each type - bridges, planks, squats and hip abduction), 3 times a week, for 6 weeks. Exercises will take no longer than 30 min per day in a moderate intensity, defined by the participants' perception. All participants will receive a diary to monitor their adherence to the intervention, access to the website and frequency of exercise. The website usage and exercises practice will be entirely at the discretion of participants.
Sponsors
Christian Barton
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Participants will be considered eligible if they present with anterior or retropatellar pain: (i) corresponding to at least 30 on a 100 visual analogue scale (VAS) in the previous week; (ii) for at least 3 months; (iii) during at least two or more of the following activities: prolonged sitting, squatting, kneeling, running, ascending and descending stairs, jumping and landing; (iv) if they who could read/understand English; and (v) if they have access to computer/internet.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria include a past history of any lower limb surgery; history of patellar subluxation or dislocation; history of knee ligament or meniscus tears; history and/or presence of neurologic conditions.
Outcome results
None listed