Pain intensity and lower limb dynamic balance were related to the laterality judgment test of patients with patellofemoral pain

INTRODUCTION: Laterality judgement evaluates the capacity to differentiate between the left and right sides of bodily parts. Cortical body representations are impaired in various musculoskeletal conditions, yet this remains unexplored in individuals with patellofemoral pain (PFP).

OBJECTIVE: This study compared laterality judgement performance between individuals with PFP and asymptomatic controls. Additionally, we investigated the relationship between laterality judgement and self-reported disability, physical performance, and dynamic stability within the PFP group.

METHODS: A secondary analysis encompassed 48 patients and 48 controls. Participants were examined for laterality judgement, pain intensity, knee disability, physical performance and lower limb dynamic balance. Statistical analyses included Student's t-test for group differences and linear regression to examine relationships between laterality judgement and other measurements.

RESULTS: The sample comprised 60 males (62.5%) with a mean age of 31.3 years. The PFP group reported a mean pain duration of 37.6 months and moderate pain intensity (4/10). Laterality judgement accuracy and time were identical between the PFP group (78.3% and 2.1 s, respectively) and controls (80.8% and 2.2 s, respectively) (accuracy p = 0.50 and time p = 0.66). Lower limb dynamic and pain intensity were related to laterality judgement accuracy (β = 0.4, p < 0.01) and time (β = 0.4, p = 0.03), respectively.

CONCLUSION: PFP and control groups demonstrated similar laterality judgement performance. In the PFP group, lower laterality judgement accuracy was related to dynamic balance and lower laterality judgement time was related to pain intensity. The physical performance and self-reported knee disability were not related to the knee laterality judgment of these patients.