The association between overuse and musculoskeletal injuries and the female athlete triad in Division I collegiate athletes.

Abstract

Although the female athlete triad (Triad) has been associated with increased risk of bone-stress injuries (BSIs), limited research among collegiate athletes has addressed the associations between the Triad and non-BSI injuries.To elucidate the relationship between Triad and both BSI and non-BSI in female athletes.Retrospective cohort study.Primary and tertiary care student athlete clinic.National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female athletes at a single institution.Participants completed a pre-participation questionnaire and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, which was used to generate a Triad cumulative risk assessment score (Triad score). The number of overuse musculoskeletal injuries that occurred while the athletes were still competing collegiately were identified through chart review.BSI and non-BSI were treated as count variables. The association between BSI, non-BSI, and Triad score was measured using Poisson regression to calculate rate ratios.Of 239 athletes, 43% of athletes (n?=?103) sustained at least one injury. Of those, 40% (n?=?95) sustained at least one non-BSI and 10% (n?=?24) sustained at least one BSI over an average follow-up 2.5?years. After accounting for sport type (non-lean, runner, other endurance sport, or other lean advantage sport) and baseline age, we found that every additional Triad score risk point was associated with a significant 17% increase in the rate of BSI (rate ratio [RR] 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-1.33; p?=?.016). However, Triad score was unrelated to non-BSI (1.00, 95% CI 0.91-1.11; p?=?.99). Compared with athletes in non-lean sports (n?=?108), athletes in other lean advantage sports (n?=?30) had an increased rate of non-BSI (RR: 2.09, p?=?.004) whereas distance runners (n?=?46) had increased rates of BSI (RR: 7.65, p?

View details for DOI 10.1002/pmrj.13201

View details for PubMedID 38837318