Abstract
Objective
To determine the association between the amplitude of vastus medialis (VM) Hoffmann
reflex (H-reflex) and pain level, self-reported physical function, and chronicity
of pain in women with patellofemoral pain (PFP).
Design
Cross-sectional study.
Setting
Laboratory of biomechanics and motor control.
Participants
Women diagnosed with PFP (N=15) aged 18 to 35 years.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Data on worst pain level during the previous month, self-reported physical function,
and symptom duration (chronicity) were collected from the participants. Maximum evoked
responses were obtained by electrical stimulation applied to the femoral nerve and
peak-to-peak amplitudes of normalized maximal H-reflexes (maximal Hoffmann reflex/maximal
motor wave ratios) of the VM were calculated. A Pearson product-moment correlation
matrix (r) was used to explore the relations between the amplitude of VM H-reflex and worst
pain during the previous month, self-reported function, and chronicity of pain.
Results
Strong negative correlations were found between the amplitude of VM H-reflex and worst
pain in the previous month (r=−.71; P=.003) and chronicity (r=−.74; P=.001). A strong positive correlation was found between the amplitude of VM H-reflex
and self-reported physical function (r=.62; P=.012).
Conclusions
The strong and significant relations reported in this study suggest that women with
PFP showing greater VM H-reflex excitability tend to have lower pain, better physical
function, and more recent symptoms. Therefore, rehabilitation strategies designed
to increase the excitability of the monosynaptic stretch reflex should be considered
in the treatment of women with PFP if their effectiveness is demonstrated in future
studies.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AKPS (Anterior Knee Pain Scale), Hmax (maximal Hoffmann reflex), H-reflex (Hoffmann reflex), ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient), Mmax (maximal motor wave), PFP (patellofemoral pain), VM (vastus medialis)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 12, 2016
Footnotes
Supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (grant no. 2014/24939-7 and scholarship no. 2013/10755-9). The financial sponsor played no role in the design, execution, analysis and interpretation of data, or writing of the study.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
