The relationship between navicular drop and tibia torsion in active girl students with and without patellofemoral pain syndrome

AbstractIntroduction: Patellofemoral pain syndrome is a common problem in the knee joint, which comprise 20 to 40 percent of knee pain and 10 to 20 percent of subjects admitted in physiotherapy clinics. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between navicular drop and tibia torsion in active girl students with and without patellofemoral pain syndrome.Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, thirty active girl students (Mean age; 20-30 years old) were recruited. Fifteen subjects who were in healthy condition placed in normal group and other fifteen was assigned to the patellofemoral syndrome group. The tibia torsion, Navicular drop, and pain intensity of the subjects were respectively evaluated by the goniometer, the scaled ruler and visual analog scale. Finally, data were analyzed using independent t-test. Also Inter Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate the repeatability of measurements.Results: Our findings indicated that there was no significant difference between navicular drop and tibial torsion in both groups (P>0.05).Conclusion: According to the results of this research, it seems that navicular drop and tibia torsion, which certainly changes with personal features and people's training background, may not be considered as a main risk factor for patellofemoral pain syndrome. Key words: Patellofemoral pain syndrome, Navicular drop, Tibia torsion