SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2026
A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis of the Association between Changes in Muscle Strength and Clinical Outcome Changes in Patellofemoral Pain.
Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2026. 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
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate whether muscle strength changes observed in randomised controlled trials involving people with patellofemoral pain (PFP) are associated with concurrent changes in pain and physical function.
designSystematic review with meta-analysis, applying a two-stage structural equation modelling approach with random-effects estimation. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Randomised clinical trials assessing non-surgical and non-pharmacological interventions that reported both muscle strength and at least one clinical outcome (pain or function) in people with PFP. DATA SOURCES: CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline and SPORTDiscus were searched from inception to April 2026.
resultsFrom 16,750 records screened, 82 trials met the eligibility criteria (4023 participants). Regarding self-reported pain outcomes, low to moderate evidence certainty indicated significant associations between strength improvements and pain reduction for knee extensors (r = - 0.75, β = - 0.21), knee flexors (r = - 0.46, β = - 0.14), hip abductors (r = - 0.91, β = - 0.31), hip adductors (r = - 0.26, β = - 0.19), hip external rotators (r = - 0.24, β = - 0.06), hip internal rotators (r = - 0.79, β = - 0.31) and hip extensors (r = - 0.58, β = - 0.26). Regarding self-reported function, low to high evidence certainty indicated that strength improvements in knee extensors (r = 0.70, β = 0.15), knee flexors (r = 0.46, β = 0.07), hip abductors (r = 0.94, β = 0.15), hip adductors (r = 0.55, β = 0.11), and hip internal rotators (r = 0.98, β = 0.06) were significantly associated with improved function.
conclusionsThis review provides evidence that improvements in lower limb muscle strength are associated with improvements in pain and physical function among people with PFP. These findings reinforce the clinical relevance of strength-focused rehabilitation, particularly targeting the knee and hip muscles. REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42023420875.
Identifiers
42301594What 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.