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The Effects Of Gait Retraining In Runners With Patellofemoral Pain, Jenevieve Roper

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Running popularity has increased resulting in a concomitant increase in running-related injuries. Of these injuries, patellofemoral pain (PFP) is the most commonly reported. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine whether gait retraining by modifying footstrike patterns from rearfoot strike (RFS) to forefoot strike (FFS) reduces PFP and improves associated biomechanical measures, and whether the modification results in increased risk of ankle injuries. METHODS: Sixteen subjects (n=16) received clearance to participate by a licensed physical therapist, and were randomly placed in the control (n=8) or experimental (n=8) group. Subsequently, the experimental group (EXP) performed eight gait retraining running …