Processo de escolha do calçado esportivo por corredores amadores: caracterização e análise da associação com o histórico de lesão

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the process of choosing sports shoes by amateur runners and to verify whether the variables related to sports shoes and their choice process were associated with the presence of an injury and its recurrence in the last year. The study included 254 amateur runners of both sexes over the age of 18, who practiced running on the street at least once a week and participated in at least one competition in the last year. A self-administered questionnaire with closed questions was used as a data collection instrument in a unique and exclusive online way. For data analysis, the chi-square test was used to check whether the observed distribution of the answers differed from the expected distribution. Logistic regression tests were performed to verify whether the variables related to the shoe and the process for choosing it predict the presence of an injury in the last year and the recurrence of the injury. The chi-square test revealed that the distribution of responses was not uniform and that the majority of amateur runners have specific shoes for running, taking into account characteristics of the footwear such as reasonable cushioning and difference in the height of the sole between posterior and anterior parts (i.e., drop) of approximately 10 mm, knows their foot type but does not consider it in the choice of shoes, does not use a foot orthosis and does not receive guidance on the choice of sports shoes. The model obtained with the logistic regression with the variables related to shoes' characteristics, and the process of their choice was not significant to predict the presence of injury (p = 0.10) and injury recurrence (p = 0.34) in the last year. Thus, most amateur runners in this study do not have professional guidance regarding how to choose their sports shoes. However, most of them choose sports shoes according to the American College of Sports Medicine recommendations and other current evidence.