Measuring and Monitoring Patellofemoral Pain and Osteoarthritis: Outcome Measures From a Scoping Review and Early-Stance Gait Predictors of Pain Flares

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who see adolescents and adults with anterior knee pain, and who are deciding what to measure at the first visit, what to repeat, and how to tell a real change from noise. Physical therapist assistants may take this course; the course describes the assistant’s part as measurement and reporting carried out under the direction and supervision of the physical therapist.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in outpatient orthopedics, sports, and primary care settings; clinicians involved in outcome measure selection, program evaluation, or student and new-graduate mentoring.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course is based entirely on the following two peer-reviewed articles. All findings and figures are attributed in text to the paper that reported them.

Besomi M, Machado EM, Lyng KD, Holden S, Blumenfeld MB, Andreucci A, De Oliveira Silva D, Glaviano N, Kayll SA, Maclachlan L, Matthews M, Mazzella N, Paterson KL, Pazzinatto MF, Rodrigues Souto L, Tan J, van Leeuwen GJ, Wyndow N, van Middelkoop M, Rathleff MS, Vicenzino B, Collins NJ. Measures of Health-Related Domains Used in Patellofemoral Pain: A Scoping Review and Mapping to the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Core Areas. JOSPT Open. 2026;4(3):276-288. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2026.0232

Wagner JG, Hammond E, Boyer KA, Johnson J, Collins KH, Majumdar S, Souza RB. Gait Biomechanics During Early Stance Phase Predict Pain Flares in Persons With Patellofemoral Joint Osteoarthritis. JOSPT Open. 2026;4(2):223-231. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2026.0183

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe which health-related domains and measures the scoping review found were most and least frequently reported across 969 patellofemoral pain studies, and how those measures mapped to the OMERACT core areas.
2. State what the cross-sectional gait study reported about early-stance knee mechanics in people with isolated patellofemoral joint osteoarthritis who did and did not experience a movement-evoked pain flare.
3. Distinguish a group-level predictive association from a diagnostic test when explaining what a repeated measurement set can and cannot tell a clinician about a patient's status over time.

1. Start Here: Course Overview, Objectives, and How to Earn Credit
2. Part One: Outcome Measures Used in Patellofemoral Pain Research
3. What the Scoping Review Set Out to Map and Whose Studies Were Counted
4. How the Review Was Searched, Screened, and Charted
5. Which Measures Dominated and Which Domains Were Barely Touched
6. Mapping to the OMERACT Core Areas and What the Pattern Says About Measurement
7. Part Two: Early-Stance Gait Mechanics and Pain Flares in Patellofemoral Joint Osteoarthritis
8. Who Was Studied: Adults With Isolated Patellofemoral Joint Osteoarthritis and Matched Controls
9. How Walking Was Measured and How a Pain Flare Was Defined
10. What Early Stance Looked Like in Those Who Flared and Those Who Did Not
11. Proof of Concept in a Small Sample: The Limits the Authors Named
12. Bringing It Together
13. Where the Two Papers Agree About Measuring This Knee
14. Where They Diverge: Laboratory Mechanics Versus Patient-Reported Domains
15. A Practical Measurement Set and What Change Should Prompt a Plan-of-Care Review
16. What Remains Open and What the Authors Said Comes Next
17. Key Takeaways
18. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 1.0 contact hour (60 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Besomi M, Machado EM, Lyng KD, Holden S, Blumenfeld MB, Andreucci A, De Oliveira Silva D, Glaviano N, Kayll SA, Maclachlan L, Matthews M, Mazzella N, Paterson KL, Pazzinatto MF, Rodrigues Souto L, Tan J, van Leeuwen GJ, Wyndow N, van Middelkoop M, Rathleff MS, Vicenzino B, Collins NJ. Measures of Health-Related Domains Used in Patellofemoral Pain: A Scoping Review and Mapping to the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Core Areas. JOSPT Open. 2026;4(3):276-288. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2026.0232
2. Wagner JG, Hammond E, Boyer KA, Johnson J, Collins KH, Majumdar S, Souza RB. Gait Biomechanics During Early Stance Phase Predict Pain Flares in Persons With Patellofemoral Joint Osteoarthritis. JOSPT Open. 2026;4(2):223-231. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2026.0183