Interações entre fatores musculoesqueléticos locais, idade e tempo de prática de corrida em corredores com histórico de lesão em perna e pé

Abstract

Introduction: Running is an activity with a high incidence of injuries at shank and foot. Some factors associated with these injuries have already been described. However, it is still unclear how these factors interact with each other in runners with a history of injury. Objective: To identify subgroups of runners with similar characteristics who have or do not have a history of shank and foot injuries in the last year. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study. Sixty-two runners participated in the study, 22 with and 40 without injury history. Ankle tissue compliance, forefoot-leg alignment, plantar flexor strength, running experience time, and age were collected. Data analysis was performed using the Classification and Regression Tree (CART). Results: The analysis revealed seven subgroups of runners, four of them with a history of injury and three of them without a history of injury. Lower ankle compliance was one of the factors associated with injury history. Higher ankle compliance was associated with injury history when combined with other factors. The forefoot-leg alignment contributed differently to injury in the younger and older runners’ subgroups. Running experience was selected as a predictor of injury history only in the older runner’s subgroup. The model did not select muscle strength as a predictor of injury history. Conclusion: Musculoskeletal factors interact with running experience time and age, generating specific subgroups with and without injury history. Lower ankle compliance seems to be harmful to runners since it could predict injury history without association with the other variables. In addition, older runners with greater running experience seem to be better able to deal with greater forefoot varus. In contrast, younger runners with higher varus values are at greater risk of having a history of injury. Understanding how different age groups deal with this variable is essential to guide professionals involved with runners' health.