Proposing a Patellar Tendinopathy Screening tool following a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Orthopedics
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Patellar tendinopathy (PT) is a common knee overuse injury resulting from repetitive stress on the patellar tendon.
• Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors contribute to the development of PT across diverse populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors associated with patellar tendinopathy.
• To develop a proposed screening tool for PT utilizing identified risk factors and established outcome measures.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines.
• Articles were screened for relevance and methodological quality, with duplicates and low-quality studies excluded.
• Identified risk factors were descriptively summarized.

Main Results:

• Six studies met the inclusion criteria, with an average methodological quality score of 69%.
• Eight intrinsic and five extrinsic risk factors for PT were identified.
• These factors informed the creation of a proposed PT screening tool, incorporating the Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment for Patellar Tendinopathy Questionnaire, Visual Analog Scale, and Pain Provocation Test.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully identified key intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors for patellar tendinopathy.
• A novel PT screening tool was formulated based on these findings, warranting further validation.
• The identified factors and screening tool offer potential for PT prevention and outcome measurement in clinical settings.