A One-Season Prospective Study of Illnesses, Acute, and Overuse Injuries in Elite Youth and Junior Track and Field Athletes

Abstract

Conclusion: This study provides important information regarding the extent of health problem in Youth and Junior track and field athletes. This could help orient injury prevention measures. For injuries, it should be focused on muscle injuries, especially located on the hamstring, calf, and trunk. For illness, prevention measures could include: screening tests for airway problems, but also general illness prevention measures (e.g., drinking regularly, eating "safe" food, regular hand washing, decreasing contact with sick people, avoiding dehydration).

Prevalence and burden of health problems in competitive adolescent distance runners: A 6-month prospective cohort study

“…For illnesses, the mean weekly prevalence reported within this study (8%) is predominantly lower than that reported in the comparable studies (range: 14-23%), [8][9][10] with the exception being a cohort of elite Irish adolescent endurance athletes (6.9%). 11 Differences between these studies may be explained by the longer follow-up period (52-weeks) used in two of the studies, 8 10 thus being representative of a full calendar year, in addition to the possibility that the smaller sample sizes (range: 25 to 76) used in these studies overestimate the prevalence of these health problems. [8][9][10][11] The fundamental methodological differences between other studies make any further comparison difficult.…”

“…11 Differences between these studies may be explained by the longer follow-up period (52-weeks) used in two of the studies, 8 10 thus being representative of a full calendar year, in addition to the possibility that the smaller sample sizes (range: 25 to 76) used in these studies overestimate the prevalence of these health problems. [8][9][10][11] The fundamental methodological differences between other studies make any further comparison difficult.…”

“…4 In adolescent distance runners, there is a lack of research that has investigated such outcomes. 5 This population is often included as a sub-group within larger multi-sport samples of adolescent athletes, [6][7][8][9][10][11] whereby sex differences have been investigated within a heterogenous population rather than at sport-specific levels. 6 7 9 10 Regardless, in those studies that include adolescent distance runners, the reported running-related injury (RRI) incidence ranges from 0.84 to 17.0 per 1,000 hours of exposure, 7 8 10 12 13 and injury prevalence ranges from 15 to 32%.…”

The Athletics Injury Prevention Programme Can Help to Reduce the Occurrence at Short Term of Participation Restriction Injury Complaints in Athletics: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…In these six training groups, athletes were then selected according to the following inclusion criteria: (1) training at least 3 times a week and engaged in competitive athletics, (2) without any contraindications for competitive athletics activity, and (3) aged from 15 to 40 years. Athletes were included irrespective of their baseline injury status or history [16], because excluding athletes with injury would have resulted in a biased study population not representative of athletes, where injuries are frequent [2][3][4]17]. Informed written consent was obtained from all participants in the study, and in addition from their parents for those under the age of 18 years.…”

Training Practices and Injuries in Competitive Adolescent Distance Runners: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

“…development should be evidence-informed [16]. Also, the few available studies usually focus on adolescent track and eld (athletics), only including distance running as a sub-sample [13,14,17,18].…”