Influence of external focus of attention on hop performance, trunk and lower limb biomechanics of people with and without patellofemoral pain

• Grant number: 25/05899-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: October 25, 2025
• End date: April 24, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Mícolis de Azevedo
• Grantee: Gleison Gustavo Moraes da Silva
• Supervisor: Neal Robert Glaviano
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Connecticut (UCONN), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/10121-4 - The influence of objective monitoring on unsupervised homebased treatment in people with Patellofemoral Pain: A randomized clinical trial, BP.MS

Abstract

Patellofemoral Pain (PFP) is a chronic knee disorder that causes impairments in self-reported and objective function. Single Leg Hop for Distance (SLHD) and Drop Vertical Jump (SLDVJ) are performance-measured tests commonly used performance itself (e.g., jump distance) and/or movement patterns (i.e., kinematics and kinetics). There are inconsistent findings in the literature regarding altered movement patterns during the SLHD and SLDVJ, which may be driven by differences in the hop performance. Reductions in jump performance could influence the movement pattern used and mask possible biomechanical alterations. However, this assumption is yet to be tested. One way of testing this assumption is to instigate the individuals with PFP to increase the jumping distance or height to truly achieve their maximal performance. Therefore, by using an external focus of attention to increase the jump performance during these tests, we aim to compare the jumping performance, trunk and lower limb kinematics and kinetics of individuals with and without PFP during the SLHD and SLDVJ with and without external focus of attention. Men and women aged 18 to 35 years old, with and without PFP will be recruited at University of Connecticut (UConn) - Storrs. Anthropometrics and self-reported measures will be collected. Additionally, objective function, trunk and lower limb kinematics (i.e., sagittal and frontal planes) and kinetics will be collected during the SLHD and SLDVJ. An external focus of attention will be used to increase the performance in the SLHD and SLDVJ while biomechanical data will be collected. Excel, VICON and MATLAB software's will be used for data analysis. Generalized Linear Models will be used to investigate group-by-condition interactions. The ¿ level of significance will be set as <0.05. Confidence intervals and effect size will also be calculated. (AU)