Risk factors for overuse injuries in runners

Abstract

There are many suspected risk factors for running-related overuse injuries; however, this remains a difficult area to adequately study. Numerous studies concerning factors that contribute to running injuries now exist in the literature, but inconsistent and sometimes conflicting results are found. This is likely due to different methodologies, definitions, outcome measures, and studied populations. This article reviews and summarizes several relevant studies on this topic, focusing on anatomic (intrinsic) risk factors as well as risk factors related to training (extrinsic). Due to the likely multifactorial nature of running injuries, very few firm conclusions can be made based on the existing studies. Training volume (mileage) and the occurrence of previous injuries seem to be the two most consistent risk factors across epidemiologic studies.