Impact of COVID-19 Social Distancing Restrictions on Training Habits, Injury, and Care Seeking Behavior in Youth Long-Distance Runners

Abstract

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the sporting and exercise activities of millions of youth. Running is an activity that could be maintained while social distancing restrictions were implemented during the pandemic. If running-related injuries do occur, these restrictions may also influence the access to care or care seeking behavior of this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if the social distancing restrictions during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic influenced training habits, injury, and care seeking behavior in youth long-distance runners. Methods: A customized, open online questionnaire was provided to runners 9–19 years of age who participated in long-distance running activities including team/club cross-country, track and field (distances ≥800 m), road races, or recreational running. Participants responded to questions about demographics, running habits, RRIs, and health care provider visits 6-months before as well as during social distancing restrictions due to COVID-19. Wilcoxon signed rank tests compared differences for ratio data and Chi-square tests were used to compare proportions before and during COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: A total of 287 youth long-distance runners (male = 124, female = 162, unspecified = 1; age = 15.3 ± 1.7 years; running experience = 5.0 ± 2.3 years) participated. Compared to their pre-COVID-19 responses, youth long-distance runners reported lower distances run per week ( p < 0.001), fewer runs per week ( p < 0.001), fewer hard runs per week ( p < 0.001), fewer number of injuries ( p < 0.001), and fewer injuries per 1,000 km ( p = 0.002) during the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. A lower proportion of participants reported in-person health care provider visits ( p < 0.001) and a lower proportion of visits were made to an athletic trainer during COVID-19 social distancing restrictions compared to prior to COVID-19 ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant decreases in both training and injuries which were different compared to previous reports in an adult population. Many of the runners who sustained an injury during COVID-19 social distancing restrictions did not seek care, with the most prominent reduction in visits to an athletic trainer. This could impact future injury and chronic pain.

High School Sports During the CoVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact of Sport Participation on the Health of Adolescents

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18] For example, experts have indicated that the CoVID-19 pandemic will make it more likely that youth will engage in sedentary activities and increase the prevalence of childhood obesity. [19][20][21][22][23] Research has also shown that females, older athletes, team sport participants and athletes from areas with higher levels of poverty reported more symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as lower levels of physical activity and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in May 2020 during the widespread shutdown. 24 Another study reported that adolescent athletes in May 2020 reported more mental health symptoms, as well as lower physical activity and HRQoL scores compared to similar samples of adolescent athletes prior to the CoVID-19 pandemic.…”

Changes in Motivation, Socialization, Wellness and Mental Health in Youth Long-Distance Runners During COVID-19 Social Distancing Restrictions

“…That is because running can be performed outside of facilities and with the appropriate social distancing required during COVID-19. However, during spring 2020 of the COVID-19 pandemic, youth long-distance runners reported a decrease in their running habits, including reduced running distance (decreased 14.0%), total number of runs per week (decreased 14.0%), and number of hard runs per week (decreased 27.0%) (Bazett-Jones et al, 2020 ). This is in contrast with adult runners that reportedly increased their running behaviors following social distancing restrictions (DeJong et al, 2021 ; Holmes et al, 2021 ; Mosqueira-Ourens et al, 2021 ).…”

“…While less has been published in youth runners, competition may also be an important factor related to motivation and enjoyment in children (Chalkley et al, 2020 ). As sports seasons and competitions were canceled due to COVID-19, youth runners may have become less motivated to run and felt less enjoyment, potentially contributing to the reported reductions in running (Bazett-Jones et al, 2020 ). Understanding why youth long-distance runners change their running habits provides greater insights that could help coaches and health care professionals prepare youth runners return to running following a period of reduced running.…”

“…Since many runners can continue their physical activity without access to facilities, they may be at a lower risk of worsening mental health during COVID-19 social distancing. Recently, Bazett-Jones et al ( 2020 ) found that youth runners did not maintain physical activity and reported reduced running habits during COVID-19. Therefore, it appears that youth runners may not have benefitted as expected from the potential mental health effects of physical activity during COVID-19.…”

Changes in Training, Lifestyle, Psychological and Demographic Factors, and Associations With Running-Related Injuries During COVID-19

“…With the recent worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), individuals have been forced to alter their daily lifestyle and exercise behaviors due to changes such as closures of fitness facilities, changes in work and home obligations, and novel isolation protocols. For example, recent work studying youth long-distance runners found that COVID-19 social distancing restrictions impacted training habits (Bazett-Jones et al, 2020 ). Furthermore, recent studies have illustrated that physical activity levels during the COVID-19 global pandemic have decreased (Castañeda-Babarro et al, 2020 ; Gallè et al, 2020 ; Eek et al, 2021 ; Fearnbach et al, 2021 ; Puccinelli et al, 2021 ; Wilke et al, 2021 ).…”