What does this research mean for the field?

An 8-week smartphone-based digital therapeutic combining exercise and cognitive-behavioural therapy significantly reduces knee pain and improves function, quality of life, and psychological outcomes in patients with chronic patellofemoral pain compared to standard education and exercise instruction. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To evaluate whether an 8-week smartphone-based digital therapeutic combining exercise and cognitive–behavioural therapy reduces usual knee pain compared to education and exercise instruction in patients with chronic patellofemoral pain.

September 5, 2026British Journal of Sports MedicineOpen Access

Digital therapeutic combining exercise and cognitive–behavioural therapy reduces pain in patients with chronic patellofemoral pain: a multicentre randomised controlled trial

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Authors

JPJae‐Young Park SLSanghee Lee JKJong-Min Kim

Discussion

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Overview

Randomized trial demonstrates that a digital therapeutic combining exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy reduces knee pain in chronic patellofemoral pain, indicating its efficacy for care.

Key Points

To evaluate whether an 8-week smartphone-based digital therapeutic combining exercise and cognitive–behavioural therapy reduces usual knee pain compared to education and exercise instruction in patients with chronic patellofemoral pain.
Multicentre, parallel-group randomized controlled trial conducted across 10 hospital outpatient clinics in the Republic of Korea involving 216 participants with chronic patellofemoral pain lasting at least 3 months (NCT06260865).
Participants were randomly assigned to the MORA Cure PFP digital therapeutic (personalized home exercises, weekly cognitive–behavioral therapy sessions, and daily worksheets) or an active control group (standard education, one-time exercise instruction, printed materials, and exercise diaries).
Assessed outcomes at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, with the primary endpoint of usual pain at 8 weeks measured on a 0–100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) and analyzed via linear mixed-effects models.
For the primary endpoint at week 8, usual pain significantly favored the digital therapeutic group (between-group mean difference −12.5 mm, 95% CI −17.1 to −7.8).
Secondary outcomes at week 8 favored the digital therapeutic, including worst pain (mean difference −10.7 mm, 95% CI −15.9 to −5.4), knee function on the Anterior Knee Pain Scale (5.2 points, 95% CI 2.7 to 7.7), and health-related quality of life on the EQ VAS (10.7 points, 95% CI 7.1 to 14.4).
Pain catastrophizing also significantly improved (PCS, −1.8 points, 95% CI −3.3 to −0.3), exercise adherence exceeded 80%, and no intervention-related serious adverse events were observed.

Cite This Study

Park et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9bd4046b95aff0620eb522 https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-110863

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September 5, 2026British Journal of Sports MedicineOpen Access

Digital therapeutic combining exercise and cognitive–behavioural therapy reduces pain in patients with chronic patellofemoral pain: a multicentre randomised controlled trial

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

JPJae‐Young Park SLSanghee Lee JKJong-Min Kim

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Randomized trial demonstrates that a digital therapeutic combining exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy reduces knee pain in chronic patellofemoral pain, indicating its efficacy for care.

Key Points

To evaluate whether an 8-week smartphone-based digital therapeutic combining exercise and cognitive–behavioural therapy reduces usual knee pain compared to education and exercise instruction in patients with chronic patellofemoral pain.
Multicentre, parallel-group randomized controlled trial conducted across 10 hospital outpatient clinics in the Republic of Korea involving 216 participants with chronic patellofemoral pain lasting at least 3 months (NCT06260865).
Participants were randomly assigned to the MORA Cure PFP digital therapeutic (personalized home exercises, weekly cognitive–behavioral therapy sessions, and daily worksheets) or an active control group (standard education, one-time exercise instruction, printed materials, and exercise diaries).
Assessed outcomes at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, with the primary endpoint of usual pain at 8 weeks measured on a 0–100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) and analyzed via linear mixed-effects models.
For the primary endpoint at week 8, usual pain significantly favored the digital therapeutic group (between-group mean difference −12.5 mm, 95% CI −17.1 to −7.8).
Secondary outcomes at week 8 favored the digital therapeutic, including worst pain (mean difference −10.7 mm, 95% CI −15.9 to −5.4), knee function on the Anterior Knee Pain Scale (5.2 points, 95% CI 2.7 to 7.7), and health-related quality of life on the EQ VAS (10.7 points, 95% CI 7.1 to 14.4).
Pain catastrophizing also significantly improved (PCS, −1.8 points, 95% CI −3.3 to −0.3), exercise adherence exceeded 80%, and no intervention-related serious adverse events were observed.

Cite This Study

Park et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9bd4046b95aff0620eb522 https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-110863

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark