Landing Biomechanics, But Not Physical Activity, Differ in Young Male Athletes With and Without Patellar Tendinopathy.

Objective: To examine differences in biomechanical and physical activity load in young male athletes with and without patellar tendinopathy.
Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.
Methods: Forty-one young male athletes (15-28 years of age) were categorized into 3 distinct groups: symptomatic athletes with patellar tendon abnormalities (PTA) (n = 13), asymptomatic athletes with PTA (n = 14), and a control group of asymptomatic athletes without PTA (n = 14). Participants underwent a laboratory biomechanical jump-landing assessment and wore an accelerometer for 1 week of physical activity monitoring.
Results: The symptomatic group demonstrated significantly less patellar tendon force loading impulse in the involved limb compared with both the control and asymptomatic groups ( P <.05), with large effects ( d = 0.91-1.40). There were no differences in physical activity between the 3 groups ( P >.05).
Conclusion: Young male athletes with symptomatic patellar tendinopathy demonstrated smaller magnitudes of patellar tendon force loading impulse during landing compared to both asymptomatic athletes with patellar tendinopathy and healthy control participants. However, these 3 distinct groups did not differ in general measures of physical activity. Future investigations should examine whether comprehensively monitoring various loading metrics may be valuable to avoid both underloading and overloading patterns in athletes with patellar tendinopathy. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2020;50(3):158-166. Epub 6 Jan 2020. doi:10.2519/jospt.2020.9065 .