Injury-related psychological distress and the association with perceived running ability in injured runners.
Benjamin Maschke, Allison Palmsten, Evan O Nelson and 5 others
PMID 34999561WHAT IT FOUND
Injured runners showed elevated psychological distress at the start of rehab, which generally improved over 12-16 weeks.
However, athletic fear-avoidance did not improve and was linked to lower perceived running ability. General screening tools missed this specific athletic fear.
Key findings
01Athletic fear-avoidance scores did not significantly change from baseline to follow-up, while general psychological distress and perceived running ability did improve.
02Higher athletic fear-avoidance was significantly associated with lower perceived running ability at both baseline and follow-up.
03General psychological distress screening (OSPRO-YF) was not associated with perceived running ability, whereas the sport-specific tool (AFAQ) was.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (43 participants analyzed) and consisted mainly of female recreational runners, limiting generalizability to male or competitive runners. The study was correlational and could not determine if fear-avoidance causes poor running ability or vice versa. Rehabilitation protocols were not controlled, so it is unclear how specific treatments influenced psychological outcomes. The follow-up period of 12-16 weeks may be too short to capture full psychological recovery. The primary outcome measure (UWRI) assesses perceived ability, not actual training volume or performance.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was part of a larger project funded by the American Physical Therapy Association Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that general psychological distress screening tools are sufficient for identifying barriers to recovery in runners. This study found that while general distress improved, sport-specific fear-avoidance did not, and only the sport-specific fear was linked to lower perceived running ability. Using only general tools might lead you to miss athletes who are still fearful about returning to sport despite feeling generally better.