Differences in content of care and outcomes between a clinical practice guideline adherent program and usual care for patellofemoral pain: A retrospective pilot study.

Background: Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a common knee condition in young and active individuals that is managed with highly variable treatment strategies.

Objective: To determine whether the length, number of visits, and content of physical therapy care for patients with PFP differ between a Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) adherent program and usual care. Additionally, the percentage of patients reporting clinically important improvements in patient-reported outcomes in each group was evaluated as an exploratory aim.

Design: Retrospective analysis of clinical data.

Setting: Military outpatient physical therapy clinics.

Patients: Thirty-two patients who received CPG-adherent care and 46 patients who received usual care.

Interventions: Patients in the CPG-adherent group were classified into overuse/overload, movement coordination deficits, muscle performance deficits, or mobility impairments subcategories based on CPG-recommended examination procedures and received the CPG-recommended interventions. Patients in the usual care group received interventions based on clinical expertise and organizational practice standards.

Main Outcomes Measures: Length of care, number of visits, and intervention content were used as primary outcomes. The Anterior Knee Pain Scale (AKPS), Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS), and Global Rating of Change (GROC) scores were used as secondary outcomes. These scores were extracted from routinely collected health data available in medical records; as a result, not all patients completed these outcomes during the follow-up time points because they were optional.

Results: The number of physical therapy visits and percentage of patients receiving knee-targeted exercises, soft tissue mobility interventions, neuromuscular reeducation, patient education, patellar taping, and foot orthoses were greater in the CPG-adherent group compared to usual care (p < .05). Additionally, most patients in the CPG-adherent group reported clinically meaningful improvements in secondary outcomes: AKPS (1 month: 13/23; 3 months: 11/16), DVPRS (1 month: 11/20; 3 months: 8/14), and GROC (1 month: 14/22; 3 months: 11/16). In contrast, fewer than half of the patients in the usual care group reached clinically meaningful thresholds: AKPS (1 month: 1/17; 3 months: 3/8), DVPRS (1 month: 3/15; 3 months: 3/7), and GROC (1 month: 2/12; 3 months: 2/7).

Conclusion: The content of the CPG-adherent care was significantly different versus usual care and associated with meaningful changes in outcomes. Several CPG-recommended interventions appeared to be underused in usual care, underscoring the value of further CPG adoption.