A PROSPECTIVE BIOMECHANICAL STUDY OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FOOT PRONATION AND THE INCIDENCE OF ANTERIOR KNEE PAIN AMONG MILITARY RECRUITS

Background: It has been suggested that excessive foot pronation is related to development of anterior knee pain.

Research question/s: Do static and dynamic parameters of foot pronation predict the development of exertional anterior knee pain in military recruits?

Methodology:Subjects: 473 infantry recruits.

Experimental procedure: In the 2 weeks before beginning basic training, all the subjects underwent two-dimensional measurement of their sub-talar joint displacement parameters (standing tibiocalcaneal angle, maximum foot pronation angle, pronation range of motion, time to maximum pronation, pronation velocity, stance duration) during walking on a treadmill. Subjects then underwent 14 weeks of basic military training and all the subjects were followed up for the development of anterior knee pain. 61/473 subjects (15%) developed exertional anterior knee pain.

Measures of outcome: Incidence of anterior knee pain (% recruits) in quartiles of biomechanical parameters.

Main finding/s::

There was no consistent association between the incidence of anterior knee pain and any of the biomechanical parameters of foot pronation, except between anterior knee pain and pronation velocity (left foot, p  =  0.05; right foot, p  =  0.007); however, this relationship was contradictory for the right and left foot.

Conclusion/s: In a prospective cohort study in military recruits, the development of anterior knee pain was not related to excessive foot pronation as measured by two-dimensional biomechanical analyses.