Background: This study assessed the beliefs and knowledge of physical therapists in Saudi Arabia regarding the management of patellofemoral pain (PFP) and their alignment with current Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs). Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted, involving 111 licensed physical therapists actively treating PFP patients. The survey included questions about PFP risk factors, prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment, using a Likert scale to measure confidence and knowledge. Results: Readers have significantly greater confidence in the knowledge of managing patients with PFP following current CPGs (p < 0.01). No significant differences were observed between groups in the other items (p > 0.01). However, over 70% of respondents, irrespective of guideline familiarity, held beliefs about risk factors, prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment that were inconsistent with CPGs. Conclusions: These discrepancies highlight a significant knowledge gap that may affect patient care quality. Enhancing education and dissemination efforts regarding CPGs is essential to improve adherence to evidence-based practices among physical therapists in Saudi Arabia. To change practitioners’ preferences, attitudes, and beliefs, more targeted programs and interventions for knowledge dissemination and implementation should be provided.

Background/Objectives: Disability in chronic low back pain (CLBP) is multifactorial, yet the independent associations of pain, fear-avoidance beliefs, and comorbidity burden with self-reported disability and performance-based walking capacity remain unclear, particularly in Saudi Arabia. This study examined factors independently associated with functional disability and walking capacity in adults with CLBP and explored whether disability was independently associated with walking capacity after accounting for demographic and clinical factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 339 adults with CLBP. Functional disability was assessed using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), walking capacity using the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), and fear-avoidance beliefs using the physical activity (FABQ-PA) and work (FABQ-Work) subscales of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire. Comorbidity burden was quantified as an unweighted count of previously diagnosed chronic conditions reported by participants and BMI-defined obesity. Multiple linear regression was used to examine factors independently associated with disability and walking capacity. The disability model included age, sex, pain intensity, FABQ-PA, FABQ-Work, and comorbidity burden. Walking capacity was examined using two models: the first included the same factors, whereas the second exploratory model additionally included ODI to examine whether disability was independently associated with 6MWT distance. Results: Bivariate analyses showed that pain intensity was positively correlated with FABQ-PA and FABQ-Work (r = 0.303–0.355), while ODI was positively correlated with comorbidity burden (r = 0.170). The 6MWT was negatively correlated with pain intensity, FABQ-PA, and FABQ-Work (r = −0.162 to −0.170) and more strongly with ODI (r = −0.550). In the adjusted disability model, comorbidity burden was the only factor independently associated with ODI score, with each additional comorbid condition associated with a 2.30-point higher ODI score (B = 2.296, 95% CI 0.834 to 3.759, p = 0.002). In the first adjusted walking-capacity model, higher pain intensity was independently associated with shorter 6MWT distance (B = −5.108, 95% CI −10.05 to −0.17, p = 0.044), while the other factors were not significantly associated with walking capacity. In the second adjusted walking-capacity model, greater disability was independently associated with shorter 6MWT distance (B = −3.996, 95% CI −4.655 to −3.337, p < 0.001). None of the other factors remained significantly associated with walking capacity in this model. Conclusions: Greater comorbidity burden was independently associated with greater disability in adults with CLBP, while greater disability was strongly associated with poorer walking capacity, highlighting the relevance of comorbidity burden and disability to functional limitations in CLBP.

Background/Objectives: Foot arch status and muscular strength may influence balance and physical performance. However, evidence regarding their associations with unilateral balance performance, walking performance, and lower limb functional capacity in healthy young adults, particularly in Saudi Arabia, remains limited. This study investigated the associations of foot arch status and handgrip strength with these outcomes in healthy young Saudi adults. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 104 healthy young adults (mean age: 21.1 ± 1.2 years; 52.9% female) underwent assessment of foot arch status using the sit-to-stand navicular drop test (SSNDT) and of muscular strength using a digital hand dynamometer. Unilateral balance performance was assessed using the single-leg stance test (SLST) under eyes open and eyes closed conditions. Walking performance and lower limb functional capacity were assessed using the 10 m walk test (10-MWT) and the 30 s chair stand test (30 s-CST), respectively. Generalised estimating equations and multivariable linear regression models were used to examine adjusted associations. Results: Greater SSNDT scores were independently associated with shorter SLST duration for both the right (β = −0.46, p = 0.003) and left feet (β = −0.25, p = 0.048). Greater handgrip strength was independently associated with longer SLST duration for the right foot only (β = 0.17, p = 0.019). Neither SSNDT score nor handgrip strength was independently associated with 10-MWT or 30 s-CST outcomes after adjustment. Athletic participants demonstrated superior balance and chair-stand performance, while the male sex was associated with longer SLST duration. Conclusions: Greater functional lowering of the medial longitudinal arch was independently associated with poorer unilateral balance performance, whereas handgrip strength demonstrated a more limited association. These findings suggest that foot arch behaviour is more strongly related to balance performance than to walking performance or lower limb functional capacity.