Prevalence and factors associated with injuries in recreational runners: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: The increased number of people who choose running as a form of exercise has been associated with a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and the factors that could be correlated with injuries among amateur runners in Recife, in the State of Pernambuco (PE), Brazil. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study, in which 300 (three hundred) amateur runners answered a social demographic questionnaire, as well as questions about training characteristics, footstrike and landing pattern, and history of running injuries. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, the stu-dent-t test to compare means, and the Chi-squared to compare prevalences. Results: The prevalence of injuries amongst runners in Recife-PE was 58.5% (n= 175), the knee being the most commonly injured site (37.3%). In both groups-runners with and without injuries – there was a higher number of male runners, with 72.4% and 72.6% respectively. There was no difference in relation to the weekly frequency of running between the groups (p<0.63). However, runners with a history of injuries ran around 7 kmh a week more than the runners without injuries (p<0.03). A neutral footstrike (F=0.87; p=0.99) and hindfoot landing (F=4.13; p=0.90) were the most reported running patterns in both groups. It was found that wear was the main criterion used for changing running shoes in both groups (F = 8.35, p = 0.4). Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among amateur runners in Recife-PE. Among the factors associated with the injuries, one variable was significant: a higher weekly volume of training. Level of evidence II; Study type: Cross-sectional study.