Quantifying the Functional Impact of Chronic Patellofemoral Pain and Its Relationship to Perceived Duty-related Medical Readiness Among Active Duty Service Members

Service members with chronic PFP frequently report impaired physical function and pain interference, opposing assumptions that PFP is a mild, self-limiting condition. As each 1-point increase in Pain Impact is associated with a 10-point decrease in perceived duty-related medical readiness, functional pain impact should be evaluated alongside other condition-specific factors (e.g., knee function) to identify rehabilitation targets among service members with chronic PFP. Future work should explore whether similar associations are found between functional pain impact and other objective readiness measures (e.g., physical fitness tests).