The Effectiveness of a Running-related Injury Prevention Program in Runners

Summary

Running is effective in increasing levels of physical activity and promotes a number of beneficial health effects. However, running can lead to running- related injuries (RRI). In theory, such injuries can be avoided with the implementation of prevention programs. But in practice, there is a paucity of prevention programs that are effective in reducing the risk of RRIs. In a previous study, the investigators developed an RRI prevention program using the Intervention Mapping framework. The RRI prevention program was named RunIn3. The present study will evaluate the effectiveness of the RunIn3 RRI prevention program.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of an RRI prevention program (i.e., RunIn3).

There will be recruited 530 runners of the state of São Paulo aged 18 years or older. After inclusion, participants will be randomly assigned and allocated in two groups: (1) intervention group, which will be the target of the implementation of the RunIn3 prevention program; and (2) control group, which will receive a minimal intervention (i.e., feedback based on surveillance).

Conditions

• Running-related Injuries

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

RunIn3 Prevention Program

The intervention will be delivered online. Every two weeks we will send a link to participants that will direct them to an online questionnaire. The online questionnaire will collect information on complaints and symptoms related to running, and the volume, intensity and frequency of running practice within the 2-week period. If the participant reports any symptom and if she/he accepts a suggestion regarding running training, an algorithm embedded in the online system will automatically suggest a training volume for the next two weeks based on the distance and/or duration reported by the participant. Through a website we will make available informative texts, videos and infographics in order to increase the participant's knowledge regarding topics such as: musculoskeletal symptoms; foot strike patterns; training workload; running shoes; warming-up/cooling-down, stretching; and concomitant strength training.

BEHAVIORAL

Feedback Based Surveillance

The intervention will be delivered online. Every two weeks we will send a link to participants that will direct them to an online questionnaire. The online questionnaire will collect information on complaints and symptoms related to running, and the volume, intensity and frequency of running practice within the 2-week period. If the participant reports any symptom and if she/he accepts a suggestion regarding running training, an algorithm embedded in the online system will automatically suggest a training volume for the next two weeks based on the distance and/or duration reported by the participant.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidade Cidade de Sao Paulo

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Caio S Vallio, PT · Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (UNICID)

• Luiz Hespanhol, PhD · Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (UNICID)

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-04-01

Primary Completion

2021-01-08

Completion

2021-01-08

Countries

• Brazil

Study Locations