Patients with Patellofemoral Pain Exhibiting Decrease Vertical Ground Reaction Force Compared to Healthy Individuals during Weight Bearing Tasks: A Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

Vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) can lead to the development knee osteoarthritis. This review systematic and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the VGRF in patellofemoral pain patients (PFP) during weight bearing tasks.

Search strategy was conducted in databases: Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar from Sep 2020 to Jun 2021. The VGRF components we measured were passive impact (Fz1)/peak and propulsion/active peak (Fz2). The quality of the studies was evaluated with Down and Black index and it was divided into three groups: low quality (LQ), medium quality (MQ) and high quality (HQ). The standardized mean difference between PFP and healthy individuals was used to calculate the effect size.

Nine articles were selected for systematic review and meta-analysis of which 5 studies was HQ, 3 studies were MQ and 1 study was LQ were classified. PFP compared to healthy individuals with moderate and small effect size have reduced impact and propulsion respectively. 

The in PFP, VGRF is influenced psychological, behavioral and biomechanical factors. Therefore, psychosomatic therapeutic approaches may have a long time effectiveness on the rehabilitation of PFP.