Prevalence of Patellofemoral Pain Among Adults in Saudi Arabia

Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is a disease that clinically presents with retro-patellar and peripatellar pain that affects primarily physically active individuals. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of PFPS in Saudi Arabia and the variables that contribute to its occurrence.

This multicenter, cross-sectional study aimed to explore the prevalence of patellofemoral pain in Saudi Arabia.

This study was conducted in Saudi Arabia. Self-structured questionnaires translated into Arabic were distributed among Saudi adults using Google Forms (Google, Mountain View, CA). The questionnaire comprised questions regarding socio-demographic characteristics, knee pain characteristics, and the Kujala Anterior Knee Pain Scale to evaluate the PFPS of the participants.

Among the 278 Saudi adult participants, 53.6% were aged between 18 and 25 years and 52.9% were male. Additionally, 15.1% of patients were obese. Of the 24.5% of patients who experienced knee pain, 44.1% experienced right knee pain. The PFPS prevalence in this study was 9%. Factors associated with PFPS were unemployment and knee pain. However, no significant differences in PFPS in terms of age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) were observed.

The prevalence of PFPS in the Saudi population was low. PFPS was more prevalent among unemployed Saudis with knee pain. Age, sex, and BMI were not considered relevant to PFPS. Further investigations should be performed to determine the prevalence of PFPS in Saudi Arabia.