The impact of anterior knee pain on the quality of life among runners in under-resourced communities in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

Background: Anterior knee pain (AKP) is the most common injury among runners and has a negative impact on the quality of life (QOL) of many athletes.
Objectives: To determine the impact of AKP on the QOL among runners in under-resourced communities in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa.
Methods: A cross–sectional study design was used. A population of 73 runners with AKP was included. Participants included runners aged 13 to 55 years with no history of knee surgery, traumatic or degenerative knee conditions. The SF-36 questionnaire was used to collect data. Ethical clearance, permission from club managers and consent from participants were obtained. Data were collected over six weeks and analysed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics included frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations and ranges. Inferential statistics included the comparison of means using the ANOVA test.
Results: The lowest SF-36 mean scores were in two health domains: role limitation due to emotional problems (59) and vitality (59). Highest scores were in the general physical functioning domain (72). Females presented with lowest SF-36 scores (48) on role limitation due to emotional problems with noticeable difference (p=0.03). Youth presented with lowest scores (62) on the social functioning domain (p=0.001). Significant differences were noted on SF-36 scores between running experienced groups on the following domains: physical functioning (p=0.03), role limitation due to physical problems (p=0.01), vitality (p=0.001), general mental health (p=0.001) and social functioning (p=0.001). The most affected was the group with three-five years of running experience which presented with scores ranging between 46 and 65. Significant mean differences were also noted between BMI groups in the social functioning domain (p=0.01) where overweight and obese groups were mostly affected by AKP.
Conclusion: This study highlighted a need to prevent, treat and rehabilitate AKP. Multidimensional community-based rehabilitation programmes are recommended.

Keywords: patellofemoral pain, state of health, athletes, poor-resourced communities