Opinions, Barriers, and Facilitators of Injury Prevention in Recreational Runners.

Abstract

Effective injury prevention measures for running-related injuries (RRIs) have not yet been identified. More insight into the opinions of runners about injury prevention might help to develop effective injury prevention programs that are supported by the target population. To describe the opinions of recreational runners on different components of injury prevention, and to identify the barriers to and facilitators of injury prevention in adult recreational runners. In this comparative cross-sectional study, a single questionnaire was sent to 2378 recreational runners. The questionnaire contained questions about their interests, actions undertaken, and perceived barriers to and facilitators of injury prevention. Descriptive analyses were used to examine differences with regard to sex, age, and previous RRIs. One thousand thirty-four adult recreational runners (43.5%) responded to the questionnaire. Runners with previous RRIs were more likely to rate injury prevention as very useful than runners who had never sustained an RRI (76.8% versus 63.6%, P<.001). In total, 81.8% of the participants indicated that they already performed preventive measures, including changes to training schedules (65.4%) and warming up and cooling down (57.8%). Most frequently reported barriers to injury prevention were "not knowing what to do" (45.2%) and "no history of RRI" (34.6%). The most important facilitator was an injury (60.1%). Women more often preferred information via a trainer or running store than did men, while men more frequently preferred websites or e-mail. The majority of runners rated injury prevention as important. To increase effectiveness, future prevention programs should be developed with an awareness of the barriers and facilitators experienced by adult runners. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2019;49(10):736-742. Epub 23 Aug 2019. doi:10.2519/jospt.2019.9029.