OBJECTIVES: To examine the efficacy of electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback supplementation to exercise rehabilitation for people with patellofemoral pain syndrome. DESIGN: Double-blinded randomized clinical controlled pilot trial. SETTING: Clinical setting with home programme. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six subjects diagnosed with patellofemoral pain. INTERVENTION: Subjects were randomly assigned into EMG biofeedback+exercise group or exercise-only group. All subjects participated in an eight-week home exercise programme, while the biofeedback group also received EMG visual feedback of their quadriceps muscle activities during the exercises. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Isokinetic knee extension strength, patellar alignments and perceived pain severity were assessed in weeks 0, 4 and 8 for all subjects. The data within and between groups were compared by repeated measures ANOVA with aalpha = 0.05. RESULTS: Both groups improved in isokinetic peak torque (p = 0.005), work output (p = 0.037) and patellar alignments (p = 0.001 to 0.014). Besides, there was a trend of decrease in pain (p = 0.088). The biofeedback group improved faster than the exercise group in lateral patellar rotation and peak torque per body weight, although no statistically significant difference was shown. CONCLUSION: Biofeedback supplement to the exercise programme might hasten the improvement for subjects with patellofemoral pain in the first few weeks of a physiotherapy exercise programme, but this needs further study before being used.

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