Best practice guide for patellofemoral pain based on synthesis of a systematic review, the patient voice and expert clinical reasoning

Objective Define a best practice guide for managing people with patellofemoral pain (PFP). Methods A mixed-methods convergent segregated synthesis of meta-analysed data with a thematic analysis of semistructured interviews and focus groups. Agreement between subproject results informed the strength of clinical recommendation for interventions eligible for best practice recommendation. Data sources Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, reference lists and citation tracking; semistructured interviews of people with PFP; and semistructured interviews and focus groups with clinical experts. Eligibility criteria High-quality (PEDro scale >7) randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were retained for efficacy estimation using meta-analysis. People with PFP were required to have experienced an episode of care in the past 6 months and clinical experts were required to have>5 years of clinical experience alongside direct involvement in research. Results Data from 65 high-quality RCTs involving 3796 participants informed 11 meta-analyses of interventions. Interviews with 12 people with PFP led to 3 themes and interviews with 19 clinical experts led to 4 themes. These were further explored in three clinical expert focus groups. Best practice for PFP should first involve understanding a patient’s background risk factors, their reasons for seeking care, greatest symptoms, and physical impairments, to inform treatment selection. Synthesis led to six distinct interventions being recommended. Knee-targeted±hip-targeted exercise therapy underpinned by education should be delivered, with additional supporting interventions such as prefabricated foot orthoses, manual therapy, movement/running retraining, or taping decided on and tailored to a patient’s needs and preferences. Conclusion A best practice guide based on a synthesis of three data streams recommends that exercise therapy and education be delivered as the primary intervention for people with PFP. Prescription of other supporting interventions should be aligned with the individual patient’s particular presentation following a thorough assessment.