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

Abstract

Objectives: To describe all health problems (injuries and illnesses) in relation to type, location, incidence, prevalence, time loss, severity, and burden, in competitive adolescent distance runners in England. Design: Prospective observational study. Methods: 136 competitive adolescent distance runners (73 female athletes) self-reported all health problems for 24-weeks between May and October 2019. Athletes self-reported health problems using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Questionnaire on Health Problems. Results: The incidence of running-related injury per 1,000 hours of exposure was markedly higher, compared to previous research. At any time, 24% [95% Confidence Intervals (CI):21-26%] of athletes reported a health problem, with 11% [95% CI:9-12%] having experienced a health problem that had substantial negative impact on training and performance. Female athletes reported noticeably more illnesses, compared to male athletes, including higher prevalence, incidence, time loss, and severity. The most burdensome health problems, irrespective of sex, included lower leg, knee, and foot/toes injuries, alongside upper respiratory illnesses. The mean weekly prevalence of time loss was relatively low, regardless of health problem type or sex. Conclusion:Competitive adolescent distance runners are likely to be training and competing whilst concurrently experiencing health problems. These findings will support the development of injury and illness prevention measures.

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

“…This is further supported by the absence of a rate ratio between the male and female participants in this study (rate ratio = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.68–1.33). Despite these observations, these figures are notably lower than those reported in a recent study that included a similar cohort of adolescent distance runners (Mann et al, 2021 ). Nonetheless, comparison between these studies is challenging due to the different study designs (i.e., retrospective vs. prospective).…”

“…When considering exposure time, the reported IR (6.3/1,000 participation hours), for “all RRI,” was slightly higher than that reported in two distinct cohorts of elite Swedish adolescent distance runners (4.0 to 5.3/1,000 participation hours) (von Rosen et al, 2017 , 2018 ). The reported IR for “all RRI” was lower than that reported in a previous study on a cohort of competitive adolescent distance runners in England (25.0/1,000 participation hours) (Mann et al, 2021 ), alongside previous studies that have included cohorts of recreational (7.7/1,000 participation hours) and novice (17.8/1,000 participation hours) adult distance runners (Videbaek et al, 2015 ). Overall, these IP and IR findings suggest that the cohort of competitive adolescent distance runners in the present study maintain a greater training volume (exposure) than in other sports, whereby the higher IP may be a result of this greater training volume.…”

“…This variation may be explained by differences in research methodology (Tabben et al, 2019 ). Regardless, there is much less research that has exclusively examined RRIs in adolescent (13-18 years) distance runners (Rauh et al, 2000 , 2006 ; von Rosen et al, 2017 ; Mann et al, 2021 ). For example, the majority of previous studies have included all track and field (athletics) disciplines, including distance runners within sub-sample analyses (Jacobsson et al, 2013 ; Pierpoint et al, 2016 ; von Rosen et al, 2018 ; Carragher et al, 2019 ; Martínez-Silván et al, 2020 ).…”

Apples to Oranges: Inconsistencies in Defining and Classifying Youth Sport Populations

“…Of the 35 injury prevention articles reviewed that used the term "adolescent" in the title, only 17% (N 5 6) reported using a measure of biological age. [40][41][42][43][44][45] Two articles assessed maturation by estimating the time from peak height velocity (PHV) using the equation developed by Moore et al while Holden et al assessed landing kinematics of 184 adolescent male and female athletes (mean age 13 6 0.3 years) during the growth spurt. 41,46 Holden et al 41 classified participants as pre-PHV or mid PHV into an early puberty group and those as post-PHV into a late puberty group.…”

‘The Little Engine That Could’: A Qualitative Study of Medical Service Access and Effectiveness among Adolescent Athletics Athletes Competing at the Highest International Level

“…Most studies of health service provision to adolescent athletes originate from the U.S., where 2 million injuries, 500,000 physician visits, and 30,000 hospitalizations have been reported to occur each year among high school athletes [ 10 ]. Detailed epidemiological data on young competitive athletes’ injuries from other countries are limited and often restricted to single sports [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. However, a broad health evaluation among Italian Youth Olympics participants representing all sports revealed that 12% had a condition warranting medical attention (mainly cardiovascular (4.5%) or pulmonary (4.5%)) [ 15 ].…”