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Economic Burden of Injuries

Our peers from Amsterdam have published a new interesting article regarding the economic burden of running-related injuries in runners training for an event.

The overall costs for per overuse injury was 196 € (equivalent to ? 1467 kr). The major contributors to the overall cost were absenteeism from work (137 € / 1022 kr) and physiotherapy (44 € / 328 kr). Even though these numbers are based on Dutch runners, RUNSAFE believes that these findings may be generalisable to Danish runners. Therefore, the economic burden of running-related injuries should not be underestimated.

Abstract from the publication:
Prospective running-related injury (RRI) data from runners training for an event are scarce, especially with regard to RRI-associated costs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and economic burden of RRIs in runners participating in an organized training program preparing them for an event. This was a prospective cohort study with 18 weeks of follow-up. Individuals aged 18 or older and registered to participate in an organized running program were eligible. Follow-up surveys were sent every 2 weeks to collect data about running exposure, RRIs, and costs. Of the 161 potential participants, 53 (32.9%) were included in this study. A total of 32 participants reported 41 RRIs. The mean prevalence during follow-up was 30.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 25.6-36.0%]. Overuse was the main mechanism of RRI (85.4%, n?=?35). An RRI was estimated to have an economic burden of €57.97 (95% CI €26.17-94.00) due to healthcare utilization (direct costs) and €115.75 (95% CI €10.37-253.73) due to absenteeism from paid work (indirect costs). These results indicate that the health and economic burden of RRIs may be considered significant for public health. Therefore, prevention programs are needed for runners participating in organized training programs. 

View the article here