Is adding education to trunk and hip exercises beneficial for patellofemoral pain? A randomised controlled trial

•This trial compares the effect of adding education to an exercise program in patients with patellofemoral pain•Education combined to exercise produced greater improvements in psychological•outcomes compared to exercise alone•A combined approach was associated with greater improvements in pain after 3 months•Adding education to exercises was superior in improving function after 3 months•There were no differences in muscle strength between the groups at any time point To investigate the effect of adding education to trunk and hip exercises in patients with patellofemoral pain (PFP). A randomised controlled trial. Research laboratory. Sixty patients with PFP were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (education followed by trunk and hip exercises, n= 30) or a control group (trunk and hip exercises, n= 30). Both groups received 8 weeks of trunk and hip exercises, while patients in the experimental group participated in 3 prior education sessions. The primary outcome was pain; secondary outcomes were pain catastrophizing, kinesiophobia, function, and muscle strength. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, after 8 weeks (post-intervention), and 3 months post-intervention (follow-up). No significant between-group differences were observed for pain outcome post-intervention. The experimental group showed superiority over the control group in the improvement of pain catastrophizing (mean difference: -2.32; 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.059 to 0.028) and kinesiophobia (mean difference: -3.56; 95% CI -1.067 to -0.035) at post-intervention. In the experimental group, improvements were maintained at follow-up assessment for all outcomes, except muscle strength. Adding education to trunk and hip exercises was associated with greater improvements in psychological outcomes than trunk and hip exercises alone after the intervention. Education can be incorporated when designing trunk and hip exercises for patients with PFP.