Greater vertical impact loading in female runners with medically diagnosed injuries: a prospective investigation
Six pages on PainSci cite Davis 2016: 1. Is Running on Pavement Risky? 2. The Complete Guide to IT Band Syndrome 3. The Complete Guide to Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome 4. Complete Guide to Plantar Fasciitis 5. Shin Splints Treatment, The Complete Guide 6. Are Orthotics Worth It?
PainSci notes on Davis 2016:
250 female runners recorded their injuries every month for a year after extensive gait analysis. 103 sought medical attention for injuries. In those injured runners, impact-related variables were significantly and substantially higher (effect size ~0.5).
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
BACKGROUND: Running has been critical to human survival. Therefore, the high rate of injuries experienced by modern day runners is puzzling. Landing on the heel, as most modern day shod runners do, results in a distinct vertical impact force that has been shown to be associated with running-related injuries. However, these injury studies were retrospective in nature and do not establish cause and effect.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether runners with high impacts are at greater risk for developing medically diagnosed injuries.
METHODS: 249 female runners underwent a gait analysis to measure vertical instantaneous loading rate, vertical average loading rate (VALR), vertical impact peak (VIP) and peak vertical force. Participants then recorded their mileage and any running-related injuries monthly in a web-based, database programme. Variables were first compared between the entire injured (INJ; n=144) and uninjured (n=105) groups. However, the focus of this study was on those injured runners seeking medical attention (n=103) and those who had never injured (n=21).
RESULTS: There were no differences between the entire group of injured and uninjured groups. However, all impact-related variables were higher in those with medically diagnosed injuries compared with those who had never been injured. (effect size (ES) 0.4-0.59). When VALR was>66.0 body weight (BW)/s, the odds of being DX_INJ were 2.72 (95% CI 1.0 to 7.4). Impact loading was associated with bony and soft-tissue injuries.
CONCLUSIONS: Vertical average loading rate was lower in female runners classified as 'never injured' compared with those who had been injured and sought medical attention.
related content
- “Prospective comparison of running injuries between shod and barefoot runners,” Altman et al, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
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