The Dogma of Running Injuries: Perceptions of Adolescent and Adult Runners

Abstract

Context: Adults perceive certain factors to increase or decrease the risk of sustaining running related injuries, but many of their perceptions are not supported by research. Litle is known about the perceptions adolescent runners hold. Investigating perceptions for adolescent runners is needed to assist in the development of future injury educational materials, as these resources may need to be tailored differently for adolescents and adults. Objective: The purpose of our study was to identify factors that adolescent runners perceive as risk or protective factors for running-related injuries and to compare these perceptions with adult runners. Design: Cross-Sectional Study Setting: Online survey Patients or Other Participants: We surveyed 302 adolescent (age < 20) and 357 adult runners (age ≥ 20) and asked if factors related to training habits, footwear, biomechanics, strength and stretching, or nutrition influence the risk of sustaining a running-related injury. Main Outcome Measure(s): If ≥75% of adolescents indicated a factor increases or decreases the risk of sustaining an injury, we considered that factor to be a perceived risk or protective factor, respectively. We also performed Fisher's exact tests to compare the proportion of adolescent and adult runners who perceived factors to increase, decrease, neither, or who did not know for each statement. Results: Adolescent runners perceived training habits, footwear, biomechanics, strength and stretching, and nutrition to increase or decrease the risk of sustaining a running-related injury. A greater proportion of adolescents than adults perceived that footwear cushioning and stretching decreases injury risk, but a lesser proportion perceived that overtraining increases injury risk and strength decreases injury risk. Conclusions: Differences in perceptions exist between adolescent and adult runners, and future educational materials and research questions may need to be tailored for different running populations.