Orthopedics Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Orthopedics, including details on chronic injuries, muscoskeletal disorders, surgery, reconstruction.

Study of Injury and Illness Rates in Multiday Ultramarathon Runners.

Krabak BJ, Waite B, Schiff MA

1Clinical Associate Professor, Rehabilitation, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine University of Washington and Seattle Children's Sports Medicine, Seattle, WA Team Physician, University of Washington and Seattle University Team Physician, USA Swimming 2Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation University of California Davis Sports Medicine, Sacramento, CA Team Physician, University of California Davis 3Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle WA 4Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

PURPOSE:: To describe injury and illness rates in runners competing in seven day, 250 kilometer off-road ultra-marathon events. METHODS:: Three hundred ninety six runners competing in the RacingThePlanet© 4 Desert Series ultra-marathon races from 2005-2006 were prospectively followed. Descriptive analyses were used to evaluate overall injury/illness rates, types of injuries/illnesses and diagnoses for all medical encounters. Multivariate linear regression was used to estimate the risk of number of injuries/illnesses and 95% confidence intervals associated with age, sex and race completion time. RESULTS:: Eight five percent of runners representing a total of 1173 medical encounters required medical care. The overall injury/illness rates were 3.86 per runner and 65 per 1000 hours run. Almost 95% were minor in nature, due to skin related disorders (74.3%), musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries (18.2%) and medical illnesses (7.5%). Medical illnesses were more likely on the first day of the race, while MSK and skin injuries on day 3 or 4. A 10 year increase in age was associated with 0.5 fewer injuries/illnesses and females had 0.16 more medical illnesses compared to males. CONCLUSIONS:: Despite the extreme nature and harsh environments of multi-day ultra-marathon races, the majority of injuries or illnesses are minor in nature. Future studies are needed to evaluate additional factors contributing to injuries.

Published 9 May 2011 in Med Sci Sports Exerc.
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Articles on Orthopedics published 9 May 2011:

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[Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Orthopedics published 5 May 2011:

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