Objective: To determine whether high-level athletes with patellar tendinopathy have diminished knee proprioceptive acuity.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: University research laboratory (institutional).
Participants: Twenty-one basketball and volleyball players with patellar tendinopathy (13 men and 8 women; mean age 24.5 ± 3.6; body mass index = 22.5 ± 2.0 kg/m) and an equal number of athletes without symptoms of patellar tendinopathy injury were included in this study.
Assessments: Participants underwent knee proprioception assessments on a single day. Furthermore, age, sex, height, weight, VISA-P (Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment) questionnaire sports participation, medical history, knee injuries, previous treatment, and medication were obtained.
Main outcome measures: Knee proprioception was evaluated by assessing sense of resistance, using a weight discrimination protocol, and joint position sense (JPS).
Results: No significant differences were observed in JPS at 30 and 60 degrees of knee flexion between groups (P = 0.165 and 0.481, respectively). In regard to the ability to discriminate weight, significant differences between the 2 groups were found with the tendinopathy group showing a higher percentage of error (P = 0.009), namely when the set of incremental weights varied by 10% from the standard weight.
Conclusions: Athletes with patellar tendinopathy have a diminished perception of force signals required for weight discrimination, whereas JPS remains unaffected in these athletes.