Patient-Reported Outcomes Remain Improved 6-Months Post Patellofemoral Pain Rehabilitation.

Hip and knee muscle strengthening programs are effective in improving short-term patient-reported and disease-oriented outcomes in individuals with patellofemoral pain (PFP), but little to no data exists on moderate to long-term post-rehabilitative outcomes. The first purpose of our study was to assess differences in pain, function, strength, and core endurance in individuals with PFP pre-, post-, and 6-months post- successful hip or knee muscle strengthening rehabilitation. The second purpose of our study was to prospectively follow these subjects for PFP recurrence at 6-months, 12-months, and 24-months post-rehabilitation.,For 24-months post-rehabilitation, we followed 157 physically active subjects with PFP who reported treatment success. Six-months post-rehabilitation, we measured pain, function, hip and knee strength, and core endurance. Six-, 12-, 18-, and 24-months, we measured PFP recurrence via electronic surveys.,Sixty-eight subjects (43%) returned to the laboratory at 6-months. Regardless of rehabilitation program, subjects experienced significant improvements in pain and function, strength, and core endurance pre- to post-rehabilitation and maintained improvements in pain and function 6-months post-rehabilitation (Visual Analog Scale/Pain - pre: 5.12+1.33, post: 1.28+1.14, 6-mos: 1.68+2.16 cm, P<0.05; Anterior Knee Pain Scale/Function - pre: 76.38+8.42, post: 92.77+7.36, 6-mos: 90.27+9.46 points, P<0.05). Over the 24- months post-rehabilitation, 5.10% of subjects who responded to our surveys reported PFP recurrence.,Our findings support clinicians implementing a hip or knee muscle strengthening program for the treatment of PFP. Both programs improve pain, function, strength, and core endurance in the short-term with moderate- and long-term benefits of improved pain, function, and low PFP recurrence.