Effects of Hip Exercises on the pain Severity in Patients with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

Introduction: Patellofemoral pain syndrome is associated with a decrease in hip muscles strength, especially abductor and external rotator muscles. Hip abductors with femoral control have an effect on the frontal plane on the knee valgus, and the increased hip abduction capacity helps these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of abductor and adductor exercises in addition to the knee exercises in knee joint pain in patients with Patellofemoral pain syndrome. Method: This is a clinical trial study conducted on patients suffering from patellar-femoral pain syndrome who visited the Sports Medicine department of the Imam Khomeini Hospital Clinic. The NRPS questionnaire was used to evaluate the patients’ pain severity SPSS version 16 was used for statistical analysis of the data. Results: The mean age of the patients in abductor group was 33.4±6.1 and in adductor group was 33.7±7.3, but this difference was not significant (P=0.1). The results of this study showed that in the abductor and adductor group, the results of all of the statistical tests on the change in the Scores of the questionnaires and tests after 6 weeks of training exercises were statistically significant (P<0.05). the comparison of the scores between the two groups showed only the difference between the mean scores of Step down between the two groups of adductor and abductor, which was statistical significance after exercises (P=0.03). Conclusion: Based on the presented study, 6 weeks of abductor and adductor muscle exercises, and specially abductor muscles, helps reduce pain and the improve joint function in patients suffering from patellofemoral pain syndrome.