A description of training characteristics and its association with previous musculoskeletal injuries in recreational runners: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND Running is one of the most popular physical activities in the world and the number of runners has increased over the past 40 years. One of the consequences of the growing running popularity is the increase of musculoskeletal injuries. OBJECTIVES To describe the routines, training characteristics and history of injury in recreational runners and to evaluate possible associations between the routines and training characteristics with previous musculoskeletal running-related injuries. METHODS A total of 200 runners participated in this study. The participants completed an electronic form containing questions about personal characteristics, running experience, training characteristics, type of running shoes, foot type and previous injuries history over the last 12 months. The data were analyzed descriptively as well as by using logistic regression models. RESULTS The majority of the runners was male, aged 43.0 (SD=10.5) years-old, have a body mass index of 24.2 (IQR=4.3) kg/m², and had training volume of 35.0 (IQR=28.0) kilometers per week. Fifty-five percent of runners had injuries over the last 12 months. The most prevalent injuries observed were tendinopathies and muscle injuries. The variable that showed an association with previous running-related injuries was running experience from 5 to 15 years (Odds Ratio (OR)=0.2; 95%CI=0.1 to 0.9). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of running-related injuries over the last 12 months was 55%. The variable running experience was associated with the absence of previous musculoskeletal running-related injuries.