%0 Journal Article
%T Lower Extremity Injuries in Novice Runners: Incidence, Types, Time Patterns, Sociodemographic and Motivational Risk Factors in a Prospective Cohort Study
%A Pavao Vlahek
%A Valentina Matijevi£¿
%J Archive of "Acta Clinica Croatica".
%D 2018
%R 10.20471/acc.2018.57.01.04
%X SUMMARY ¨C The aim was to determine types and incidence of running-related lower extremity injuries and identify sociodemographic and motivational risk factors in novice runners attending an eight-month running school. Between January 2011 and October 2014, 349 novice runners were included. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, and data on running motivation and self-perceived health and fitness were collected. Subjects were screened for lower extremity injuries at regular three-month intervals. The cohort mean age was 35.46¡À7.31 years, and 271 (79.5%) were female. There were 173 (49.9%) injuries recorded, less frequently among women (42.9% vs. 62.7%, p=0.016; OR 0.878, 95% CI 0.788-0.977). The mean body mass index was 23.89¡À3.88 kg/m2 at baseline and 22.99¡À3.35 kg/m2 post-school (p<0.001). Median self-perceived fitness level on a ten-point visual analog scale was 4 (interquartile range (IQR) 3-5) at baseline and 8 (IQR 7-8) post-school (p<0.001). Median self-perceived overall health was 6 (IQR 5-8) at baseline and 8 (IQR 7-9) post-school (p<0.001). The knee had a significantly higher rate of injuries compared to other anatomic regions (p<0.001). Subjects listed improvement of fitness as the most common motivation for entering the school (n=159; 45.7%). In conclusion, novice runners should include strengthening exercises for knee injury prevention into their training routine
%K Running ¨C injuries
%K Knee injuries
%K Lower extremity ¨C injuries
%K Risk factors
%K Surveys and questionnaires
%K Exercise
%K Motivation
%K Cohort studies
%U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6400356/