BackgroundPatellofemoral pain is considered one of the most common forms of knee pain, affecting adults, adolescents, and physically active populations. Inconsistencies in reported incidence and prevalence exist and in relation to the allocation of healthcare and research funding, there is a clear need to accurately understand the epidemiology of patellofemoral pain.MethodsAn electronic database search was conducted, as well as grey literature databases, from inception to June 2017. Two authors independently selected studies, extracted data and appraised methodological quality. If heterogeneous, data were analysed descriptively. Where studies were homogeneous, data were pooled through a meta-analysis.Results23 studies were included. Annual prevalence for patellofemoral pain in the general population was reported as 22.7%, and adolescents as 28.9%. Incidence rates in military recruits ranged from 9.7–571.4/1,000 person-years, amateur runners in the general population at 1080.5/1,000 person-years and adolescents amateur athletes 5.1%–14.9% over 1 season. One study reported point prevalence within military populations as 13.5%.The pooled estimate for point prevalence in adolescents was 7.2% (95% Confidence Interval: 6.3%–8.3%), and in female only adolescent athletes was 22.7% (95% Confidence Interval 17.4%–28.0%).ConclusionThis review demonstrates high incidence and prevalence levels for patellofemoral pain. Within the context of this, and poor long term prognosis and high disability levels, PFP should be an urgent research priority.PROSPERO registrationCRD42016038870

Background Musculoskeletal knee pain is a large and costly problem, and meniscal tears make up a large proportion of diagnoses. 'Special tests' to diagnose torn menisci are often used in the physical examination of the knee joint. A large number of publications within the literature have investigated the diagnostic accuracy of these tests, yet despite the wealth of research their diagnostic accuracy remains unclear. Aim To synthesise the most current literature on the diagnostic accuracy of special tests for meniscal tears of the knee in adults. Method An electronic search of MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allies Health Literature (CINAHL), The Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED) and SPORTDiscus databases was carried out from inception to December 2014. Two authors independently selected studies and independently extracted data. Methodological quality was evaluated using the Quality Assessment Tool for Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) 2 tool. Results Nine studies were included (n=1234) and three special tests were included in the meta-analysis. The methodological quality of the included studies was generally poor. McMurray's had a sensitivity of 61% (95% CI 45% to 74%) and a specificity of 84% (95% CI 69% to 92%). Joint line tenderness had a sensitivity of 83% (95% CI 73% to 90%) and a specificity of 83% (95% CI 61% to 94%). Thessaly 20°had a sensitivity of 75% (95% CI 53% to 89%) and a specificity of 87% (95% CI 65% to 96%). Conclusions The accuracy of the special tests to diagnose meniscal tears remains poor. However, these results should be used with caution, due to the poor quality and low numbers of included studies and high levels of heterogeneity.

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