We have two new articles in the spotlight today. First this review on risk factors for running related injuries which was co-authored by Luiz Hespanhol Junior. Despite several studies that have been conducted on running injuries, the risk factors for running-related injuries are still not clear and the literature seems unable to provide a clear answer. As such, the aim of this systematical review was to summarize the results of prospective cohort studies that investigated the risk factors for running injuries in general.
Electronic searches without restriction of language were conducted in EMBASE (1980 to Dec 2012), PUBMED (1946 to Dec 2012), CINAHL (1988 to Dec 2012) SPORTDiscus (1977 to Dec 2012), Latin American and Caribbean Centre on Health Sciences Information (1985 to Dec 2012) and Scientific Electronic Library Online (1998 to Dec 2012) databases, using subject headings, synonyms, relevant terms and variant spellings for each database. Only prospective cohort studies investigating the risk factors for running-related musculoskeletal injuries were included in this review.
Only a total of 11 articles were considered eligible in this systematic review. A total of 4,671 pooled participants were analysed and 60 different predictive factors were investigated. Only one article met the criteria for random selection of the sample and only six articles included a follow-up of 6 months or more. There was no association between gender and running injuries in most of the studies. The main risk factor reported was previous injury in the past 12 months; reported in 5 of the 8 studies that investigated previous injuries as a risk factor.
Overall, relatively few prospective studies were identified in this review, reducing the overall ability to detect risk factors. Whereas running is a popular yet injury prone sport, the results of this review highlight the need for more, well designed prospective studies in order to fully appreciate the risk factors associated with running.
Saragiotto BT, Yamato TP, Hespanhol Junior LC, Rainbow MJ, Davis IS, Lopes AD. What are the Main Risk Factors for Running-Related Injuries? Sports Med. Springer International Publishing; 2014 May 9;:1–11.