The Correlation between Intersegmental Coordination Variability and Frontal Plane Hip Kinematics during Running in Persons with Patellofemoral Pain

Despite the existing evidence indicating altered hip kinematics as well as the studies showing altered movement coordination variability in persons with patellofemoral pain (PFP), there is no study investigating the correlation between hip joint kinematic and movement coordination variability in persons with patellofemoral pain (PFP). This study aims to evaluate the correlation between peak hip adduction and variability of thigh frontal-shank transverse coordination during running in persons with PFP. In this cross-sectional correlational study, kinematic data were collected from 34 females (17 with and 17 without PFP) aged 18-35 years during treadmill running at preferred and fixed speeds, each for 30 s. The continuous relative phase method was used to calculate the coordination of thigh frontal-shank transverse. To calculate the deviation phase as the variability of intersegmental coordination, the standard deviation of the ensemble continuous relative phase curve points was averaged. The parameters of interest were peak hip adduction and coordination variability of thigh frontal-shank transverse. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to calculate the correlation between the variables. The Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant negative correlation between the peak hip adduction angle and variability of thigh frontal– shank transverse during running at both fixed (r=-0.553, P<0.05) and preferred (r=-0.660, P<0.01) speeds in persons with PFP while the control group showed a small nonsignificant correlation (r<0.29, P>0.05).   The results indicated that greater adduction of the hip joint in persons with PFP during running is contributed to lesser variability of thigh frontal-shank transverse.