ArticleCureus2025
Patellofemoral Pain in Elite Female Volleyball Players: Correlation With Trunk Muscle Strength.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a prevalent musculoskeletal condition, particularly among adolescent and young adult females, often associated with sports involving high knee loads, such as volleyball. While previous studies have examined local and distal factors contributing to PFP, the role of trunk muscle strength remains underexplored, particularly in elite athletes. Objective The objective of this study is to investigate the correlation between PFP and trunk muscle strength in elite adolescent female volleyball players. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 23 elite adolescent female volleyball players (mean age: 15.59 years) from the Hellenic National Team. Trunk muscle strength was measured using isokinetic dynamometry (Biodex System 4 Pro, Biodex Medical Systems, Inc., Shirley, NY, USA) during maximum flexion and extension at 90° of trunk inclination. Participants were categorized into PFP (n = 11) and non-PFP groups (n = 12) based on clinical evaluation. Statistical analysis included comparison of peak torque (Nm/kg), mean power, and agonist-antagonist ratios between groups. Results No significant differences were found in trunk flexion strength (p = 0.449), trunk extension strength (p = 0.423), or agonist-antagonist ratios (p = 0.601) between PFP and non-PFP groups. Trunk extension strength was consistently greater than flexion strength across all participants. Most athletes with PFP reported pain onset linked to increased training loads. Conclusions Despite the hypothesized correlation, this study did not identify significant differences in trunk muscle strength between volleyball players with and without PFP. These findings contrast with prior research on non-athletic populations, suggesting that elite athletes may possess compensatory mechanisms. Further studies are warranted to clarify the role of trunk strength in PFP pathophysiology and inform targeted prevention and rehabilitation strategies in elite sports.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.