Trial reportBMC musculoskeletal disorders2025
Effects of electrical stimulation combined with strength training on pain, muscle strength and lower-limb biomechanics in patellofemoral pain patients: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis of the Association between Changes in Muscle Strength and Clinical Outcome Changes in Patellofemoral Pain.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Patient characteristics modify the effects of education plus exercise on patellofemoral joint loading: a secondary effect-modifier analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInsufficient vastus medialis (VM) activation and excessive patellofemoral joint loading are primary contributors to patellofemoral pain (PFP). Although electrical muscle stimulation can reduce pain and enhance strength, evidence for its efficacy in selectively strengthening the VM and improving lower-limb biomechanics in PFP patients remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy of electrical stimulation combined with strength training versus conventional strength training in PFP patients.
methodsForty-six participants were randomly assigned to an electrical muscle stimulation combined strength training (EMS) group and a muscle strength training (MST) group. Both groups completed a 6-week hip/knee strengthening program (3 sessions/week, 60 min/session) whereas the EMS group received the extra electrical stimulation of VM during the knee training. Prior to and after the intervention, participants performed stair descent and isokinetic strength tests. Subjective knee pain and functional capacity were assessed using patient-reported measures, while kinematic, kinetic, and surface electromyography data were collected during stair descent.
resultsAfter the 6-week intervention, both groups showed reduced knee valgus angle, hip internal rotation angle, patellofemoral joint stress and reaction force, along with decreased activation of the gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, and vastus lateralis and increased VM activation during stair descent (all p < 0.05). In addition, both groups exhibited increased hip and knee muscle strength (all p < 0.05). Compared with the MST group, the EMS group demonstrated greater improvements in medial-lateral quadriceps activation ratio and knee extension strength, alongside more reductions in knee external rotation angle, hip adduction angle, and the anterior knee pain scale scores (all p < 0.05).
conclusionsEMS combined with strength training more effectively mitigated abnormal hip-knee movement patterns during stair descent, balanced the activation of the vastus medialis and lateralis, increased knee extensor strength, and alleviated pain and enhanced function in PFP patients.
trial registrationTrial Registration Number: ChiCTR2300067598, Date of trial registration: 1/13/2023.
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