Highlights
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Goals
To evaluate whether in fitness- related activities and recreational running over time, there is an increase in the number of novice athletes and whether these novice athletes have a higher injury rate compared to their experienced counterparts.
Methods
Data were collected from a large population-based retrospective cross-sectional study, ’Injuries and physical activity in the Netherlands’ (IPAN). Athletes aged ≥18 years were included. We used descriptive statistics to describe the characteristics of the athletes and their injuries.
The number of athletes and injuries was calculated for each year and, where appropriate, for each sport separately. The injury incidence rate was expressed as the number of injuries per 1000 hours of exposure.
Logistic regression analyzes were performed with non-extrapolated data to analyze differences in injury risk for novice and experienced athletes included in this study, separately for fitness- and running-related activities.
Results
Over the 5 years, 9,209 fitness athletes reported 370 fitness- related injuries , 5,426 runners reported 537 running-related injuries.
Weighted data showed that, in 2010-2014, the influx of novice fitness athletes decreased slightly, while the influx of novice runners increased slightly.
In each year, injury risk was higher in novice athletes compared to experienced athletes for both fitness-related activities and running.
Injury incidence rates in running are much higher than in fitness- related activities .
Trends in Dutch sports injury rates in novice (blue) and experienced (red) fitness and running participants. The rates show a decline despite efforts to promote safety in sports by implementing and expanding evidence-based preventive measures.
Conclusions
During the years 2010-2014, the absolute number of novice athletes in fitness and running- related activities increased . Although most injuries occurred in experienced athletes, the risk of injury was higher in novice athletes in both sports.
