• Bradley S Neal, Christian J Barton, Aleksandra Birn-Jeffrey, Monica Daley, and Dylan Morrissey.
• Sports & Exercise Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom; Pure Sports Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
• Phys Ther Sport. 2018 Jul 1; 32: 244-251.

ObjectivesTo explore feasibility of recruitment and retention of runners with patellofemoral pain (PFP), before delivering a step rate intervention.DesignFeasibility study.SettingHuman performance laboratory.ParticipantsA mixed-sex sample of runners with PFP (n = 11).Main Outcome MeasuresAverage/worst pain and the Kujala Scale were recorded pre/post intervention, alongside lower limb kinematics and surface electromyography (sEMG), sampled during a 3 KM treadmill run.ResultsRecruitment and retention of a mixed-sex cohort was successful, losing one participant to public healthcare and with kinematic and sEMG data lost from single participants only. Clinically meaningful reductions in average (MD = 2.1, d = 1.7) and worst pain (MD = 3.9, d = 2.0) were observed. Reductions in both peak knee flexion (MD = 3.7°, d = 0.78) and peak hip internal rotation (MD = 5.1°, d = 0.96) were observed, which may provide some mechanistic explanation for the identified effects. An increase in both mean amplitude (d = 0.53) and integral (d = 0.58) were observed for the Vastus Medialis Obliqus (VMO) muscle only, of questionable clinical relevance.ConclusionsRecruitment and retention of a mixed sex PFP cohort to a step rate intervention involving detailed biomechanical measures is feasible. There are indications of both likely efficacy and associated mechanisms. Future studies comparing the efficacy of different running retraining approaches are warranted.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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