Prevalence of stress fractures and associated factors in amateur street runners

Abstract

Despite the practice of regular physical exercises guaranteeing the gain of multiple health benefits, the literature points out that practitioners of street running are susceptible to the development of injuries, among them,
stress fractures. Objective: to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with stress fractures in amateur street runners through a retrospective cross sectional study. Method: 197 amateur street runners aged 19 to 76 years (mean 38.9 ± 10.0 years) of both sexes were investigated, who answered a selfadministered questionnaire via the internet. Information regarding sex, age, skin color, education level, body mass, height, target test, running time, volume
and frequency of training, occurrence of stress fractures, history of injuries and, for female runners, were collected information about the menstrual cycle. Results: the prevalence of stress fractures was 12.2%, with no difference between genders. A higher prevalence of stress fractures was observed in those who practiced the sport for over 10 years, with a higher monthly volume and a higher weekly frequency of training, who participated in seven or more competitions in 2019, who had an injury prior to the stress fracture and who had more than two injuries prior to the stress fracture. Conclusion: Approximately one in eight street runners presented a stress fracture as a result of street running. Increased practice time, training volume, competition frequency, and previous injuries were associated with stress fractures in runners.