Dr Kade Paterson awarded MRFF grant for knee pain intervention

Dr Kade Paterson has been awarded a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant to investigate appropriate interventions for knee pain in adolescents.

The grant, worth $994,000, has been awarded to investigate interventions for knee pain in adolescents.

Dr Paterson's study will compare the effects of minimalist and motion control shoes to determine the most appropriate shoes for adolescents with patellofemoral pain.

Pain at the front of the knee, termed patellofemoral pain, affects a third of adolescents. It causes debilitating pain that is aggravated by activities involving running and jumping and adversely impacts sufferers' ability to participate in sport and exercise-based activities. With current treatments, symptoms can last for more than five years in up to half of adolescents.

Current clinical guidelines which are based on studies in adults, given there are few trials in adolescents, recommend exercise therapy and foot orthoses.

However, these have substantially lower success rates in adolescents and adherence is notoriously poor.

There is strong evidence for the potent effect of increased knee force on symptoms. Importantly, ‘minimalist’ shoes reduce knee forces compared to ‘motion control’ shoes, which are advocated by clinicians.  Clinicians advocate motion control shoes for patellofemoral pain but biomechanical data directly challenges this.

This world-first randomised control trial comparing minimalist shoes to motion control shoes addresses a clear evidence-practice gap.

The study will provide the evidence needed to inform clinical guidelines and practice, and the impetus for shoe manufacturers to develop minimalist shoes specifically for adolescent patellofemoral pain if the hypotheses are proven.