Education and exercise supplemented by a pain-guided hopping intervention for male recreational runners with midportion Achilles tendinopathy: A single cohort feasibility study

Objectives: To examine the feasibility of recommended education and exercise supplemented by a hopping intervention implemented based on self-reported pain over 12 weeks for recreational runners with Achilles tendinopathy. Design: Single cohort feasibility study. Setting: One private physiotherapy clinic in Melbourne, Australia. Participants: Fifteen male recreational runners with midportion Achilles tendinopathy. Main outcome measures: Recruitment and adherence measures, adverse events, intervention acceptability and treatment effect trends were measured at baseline, 4 and 12 weeks. Results: Recruitment (100%), retention (87%) and follow-up (93%) rates were high. Exercise adherence was 70% (SD = 12.7) but fidelity was 50% (SD = 13.9). Three participants suffered adverse events (undertaking activities contrary to advice). Participants reported the education package, perceived benefit, and feedback frequency as intervention enablers; while the onerous time commitment was regarded a barrier. At 12 weeks, five participants were satisfied and eight very satisfied, while VISA-A had improved 24 ± 20.65 points (μ2 = 0.740). Conclusions: A randomised control trial including recommended education and exercise with a pain-guided hopping intervention as treatment for recreational runners with midportion Achilles tendinopathy may be warranted, once strategies to improve adherence and reduce adverse events are addressed.