Department of Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Pain Med. 2013 Nov;14(11):1769-75. doi: 10.1111/pme.12178. Epub 2013 Jun 26.
Assessing pain in patellar tendinopathy (PT) is difficult to perform in a standardized way. With this study, we measured pain in athletes with PT by means of pain pressure threshold (PPT) algometry in a standardized manner. Subsequently, the goal of this study is to determine normative values for clinical use.
Observational study.
Patients and healthy subjects were recruited from an outpatient clinic of a university medical center and at different sports clubs in northern Netherlands.
A total of 234 athletes, 114 diagnosed with PT and 120 healthy controls, were included.
PPT, Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Patellar tendinopathy questionnaire, and visual analog scale-pain.
PPT scores of PT athletes with tendinopathy were significantly lower compared with healthy athletes (Mann-Whitney U-test; U = 293.5; P < 0.001). With a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the optimal cut-off point to distinguish between healthy athletes and PT athletes was calculated at 36.8 N. The area under the ROC curve was 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96-1.0). There was a positive predictive value of 96.5% that athletes with a PPT below 36.8 N. had PT.
PPT algometry should be considered by clinicians as a pain assessment tool in patients with PT. The optimal cut-off point for the PPT to distinguish between PT athletes and healthy athletes was 36.8 N.
评估髌腱病（PT）患者的疼痛较难进行标准化评估。本研究通过压力测痛仪测量髌腱病运动员的疼痛，并采用标准化方式进行测量。随后，本研究旨在确定临床应用的正常值。
观察性研究。
在荷兰北部的一所大学医学中心的门诊和不同的运动俱乐部招募了患者和健康受试者。
共纳入 234 名运动员，其中 114 名诊断为髌腱病，120 名健康对照者。
压力测痛仪测量的疼痛压力阈值（PPT）、维多利亚运动研究所髌腱病评估问卷和视觉模拟评分-疼痛。
患有髌腱病的运动员的 PPT 评分明显低于健康运动员（Mann-Whitney U 检验；U = 293.5；P < 0.001）。通过绘制受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线，计算出区分健康运动员和髌腱病运动员的最佳截断值为 36.8 N。ROC 曲线下面积为 0.98（95%CI：0.96-1.0）。有 96.5%的阳性预测值表明，PPT 低于 36.8 N 的运动员患有髌腱病。
临床医生应将 PPT 测痛法视为髌腱病患者的疼痛评估工具。区分髌腱病运动员和健康运动员的 PPT 最佳截断值为 36.8 N。
