Running Study for Runners With Chronic Knee Pain

The Effects of Gait Retraining in Runners With Patellofemoral Pain: A Randomized Trial

The purpose of this study is to determine whether changing foot strike pattern from a rearfoot strike to a forefoot strike reduces chronic running-related knee pain. It is believed that switching foot strike pattern from a rearfoot strike to a forefoot strike pattern will reduce associated running-related patellofemoral knee pain.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Experimental

Detailed Description

Runners will come to the Gait Analysis Lab on north campus of the University of New Mexico, HSSB 168, for the first running trial. During this time you will fill out a health questionnaire, receive an assessment by a physical therapist, and be given a new pair of running shoes to use for the duration of the study.

Runners will be equipped with several reflective markers, which will be placed on your lower body. Runners will then complete several passes across a runway while we record your running with a motion analysis system. Runners will be equipped with a mouthpiece and nose clip. You will run for 10 minutes while we collect the gases you breathe.Twenty-four hours after you complete this running trial, you will come to our Exercise Physiology lab in Johnson Center, B143 to perform the training sessions. During this time you will run for about 10-30 minutes in front of a mirror and receive feedback from the research team. You will perform these training sessions eight times over two weeks. Twenty-four hours after your last training session, you will perform another follow-up running trial, which will be the same as the first trial. After completing the second running trial, you will be allowed to return to your normal running routine for about one month. After one month, you will return to the Gait Analysis lab to perform a final running trial, which will be the same as the first and second running trials.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 21
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Mexico
    • Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, 87131
      • University of New Mexico

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 44 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Presence of patellofemoral pain
2. No history of any cardiovascular issues.
3. Currently running as part of training program

Exclusion Criteria:

1. No patellofemoral pain present.
2. Not currently running as part of training program
3. Other lower extremity pain and/or injury that interferes with ability to run.
4. Pregnant
5. Not in the selected age ranges
6. Presence of cardiovascular or cardiopulmonary diseases

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental; Runners are switched from a rearfoot strike running pattern to a forefoot strike running pattern.	Behavioral: Experimental
No Intervention: Control; Runners continue to use their normal rearfoot strike running pattern with no intervention in place.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Pain	6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Knee abduction	6 weeks
Knee range of motion	6 weeks
ankle flexion	6 weeks
ankle range of motion	6 weeks
Knee flexion	6 weeks
Patellofemoral Stress	6 weeks
Patellofemoral contact force	6 weeks
Achilles tendon force	6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of New Mexico
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Christine M Mermier, PhD, University of New Mexico

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Relph N, Greaves H, Armstrong R, Prior TD, Spencer S, Griffiths IB, Dey P, Langley B. Running shoes for preventing lower limb running injuries in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 Aug 22;8(8):CD013368. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013368.pub2.
• Roper JL, Harding EM, Doerfler D, Dexter JG, Kravitz L, Dufek JS, Mermier CM. The effects of gait retraining in runners with patellofemoral pain: A randomized trial. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2016 Jun;35:14-22. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2016.03.010. Epub 2016 Apr 7.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 30, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 30, 2015
• First Posted (Estimated): October 2, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 12, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 9, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Joint Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
• Other Study ID Numbers: UNM-17714