title: Impact of Patellar Tendinopathy on Knee Proprioception: A Cross-Sectional Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether high-level athletes with patellar tendinopathy have diminished knee proprioceptive acuity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  University research laboratory (institutional).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one basketball and volleyball players with patellar tendinopathy (13 men and 8 women; mean age 24.5 ± 3.6; body mass index = 22.5 ± 2.0 kg/m) and an equal number of athletes without symptoms of patellar tendinopathy injury were included in this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants underwent knee proprioception assessments on a single day. Furthermore, age, sex, height, weight, VISA-P (Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment) questionnaire sports participation, medical history, knee injuries, previous treatment, and medication were obtained.
  
  
  METHODS
  Knee proprioception was evaluated by assessing sense of resistance, using a weight discrimination protocol, and joint position sense (JPS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were observed in JPS at 30 and 60 degrees of knee flexion between groups (P = 0.165 and 0.481, respectively). In regard to the ability to discriminate weight, significant differences between the 2 groups were found with the tendinopathy group showing a higher percentage of error (P = 0.009), namely when the set of incremental weights varied by 10% from the standard weight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Athletes with patellar tendinopathy have a diminished perception of force signals required for weight discrimination, whereas JPS remains unaffected in these athletes.
authors.affiliation: *CESPU, Department of Physiotherapy, North Polytechnic Institute of Health, Paredes, Portugal; †CEMAH, Activity and Human Movement Study Center, Polytechnic Institute of Oporto, Oporto, Portugal; ‡Department of Physiotherapy, High School for Allied Health Technologies of Oporto, Polytechnic Institute of Oporto, Oporto, Portugal; §School of Health Sciences and Institute of Biomedicine - iBiMED, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Diogo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Isabel M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Bessa
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011434:Proprioception; D052256:Tendinopathy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult