[Prevalence of patellofemoral pain syndrome. Evaluation of the role of biomechanical malalignments and the role of sport activity].
BACKGROUND
Disorders around the patella are the most frequent knee complaints seen in adolescents. In the literature many intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors have been linked to Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), but the role of these risk factors is controversial.


OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of PFPS in a group of adolescents aged 12-20 years in Hungary, and to gain more information on the relationship between the biomechanical anomalies of the lower extremity and the PFPS.


METHODS
In this epidemiological study the authors investigated the effect of sporting activity in the maturation of symptoms among 586 randomly selected students. Different physical examinations, anthropometric measurements, stability tests, footscan analysis were performed.


RESULTS
Concerning the prevalence of this syndrome they could not find any differences between males (n = 60, 20.41%) and females (n = 61, 20.89%). The authors could not identify any statistically significant intrinsic risk factors, although changes in the Q angle may be linked to increased prevalence of PFPS. The study supports the theory of the importance of "overload", for there was a significant correlation between the prevalence of PFPS and the different levels of sporting activities (competitive, recreational and non-athletes).


CONCLUSIONS
The authors concluded that the prevalence of PFPS among Hungarian students is 20.65%.
Tállay
András
A
Országos Sportegészségügyi Intézet, Sportsebészeti Osztály, Budapest. talland_1@hotmail.com
Kynsburg
Akos
A
Tóth
Szabolcs
S
Szendi
Péter
P
Pavlik
Attila
A
Balogh
Endre
E
Halasi
Tamás
T
Berkes
István
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D046788:Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015995:Prevalence; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013177:Sports