The Runner: A Profile of Injury and Addiction

A controversy has developed in recent years as to whether running should be considered a "positive addiction" or as a "negative "addiction." And judgements have not been made on an adequate base of epidemiologic data. This study sought to develop a more detailed body of epidemiologic information on the characteristics of runners and joggers, and to determine whether a significant relationship existed between addiction to running and the occurrence of running injuries. An initial sample of 1,227 respondents to a mail-back questionnaire was reduced to a final sample of 1,039 subjects by eliminating those individuals judged to have had pre-running conditions which might significantly affect the occurrence of running-related injuries. Physical, demographic, health habit, training, racing, shoe-related, and psychobehavioral characteristics, as well as injury characteristics, were assessed. The noninjury characteristics were grouped into 21 factors, including an addiction to running factor. Injury characteristics were expressed as injury, self-diagnosed injury, and professionally-diagnosed injury, ratios, weighted for miles of running exposure during the preceding 12-month period. Addiction to running was found to be significantly related to the occurrence of running injuries, and to discriminate injured subjects, subjects with self-diagnosed injuries, and subjects with professionally-diagnosed injuries, from those without running injuries. However, the median amount of running injury was not significantly different between addicted and nonaddicted subjects when level of running exposure (miles run per week and number of days run per week) was considered.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health and Safety Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Layman, Dale Pierre

• Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8701544

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/71071