Original Research

Prevalence and incidence rate of injuries in runners at a local athletic club in Cape Town

C. Hendricks, J. Phillips
South African Journal of Physiotherapy | Vol 69, No 3 | a31 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajp.v69i3.31 | © 2013 C. Hendricks, J. Phillips | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 12 December 2013 | Published: 12 December 2013

About the author(s)

C. Hendricks, Division of Physiotherapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Cape Town., South Africa
J. Phillips, Department of Physiotherapy, University of the Western Cape.

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Abstract

People across the world are running on a daily basis to improvetheir health status. However, running can predispose an individual to injuryto the back and lower limb. Baseline data on prevalence, incidence rate ofinjury and aetiological factors associated with running injuries are neededby physiotherapists to develop and implement effective prevention programmesto allow optimal performance in runners. Thus, the purpose of this study wasto determine the prevalence and incidence of injuries in runners at a localathletic club.Methods: A prospective, non-experimental cohort study was conductedover a 16 week period. A sample of 50 runners completed a self-administeredquestionnaire and an injury report form recording injuries sustained during the 16 week study period. Injury prevalence andcumulative incidence was calculated as a proportion rate along with 95% confidence interval.Results: The prevalence rate of injuries was 32%. The incidence rate of injuries was 0.67 per 1000km run (95% CI: 0.41- 1.08).The most common anatomical sites for new injuries were the calf (20%) and the knee (18%).Conclusions: The study found a moderate prevalence and incidence rate of injury in runners, thus the need for physiotherapyledinjury surveillance and prevention programmes have been highlighted.

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