TY  - JOUR
A1  - Neidel, Pauline
A1  - Wolfram, Petra
A1  - Hotfiel, Thilo
A1  - Engelhardt, Martin
A1  - Koch, Rainer
A1  - Lee, Geoffrey
A1  - Zwingenberger, Stefan
T1  - Cross-sectional investigation of stress fractures in German elite triathletes
T2  - Sports
N2  - Triathlon is a popular sport for both recreational and competitive athletes. This study investigated the rates and patterns of stress fractures in the German national triathlon squad. We developed a web-based retrospective questionnaire containing questions about the frequency of stress fractures, anatomic localisation and associated risk factors. The survey was conducted as an explorative cross-sectional study. Eighty-six athletes completed the questionnaire. Twenty athletes (23%) sustained at least one stress fracture. All documented stress fractures were located in the lower extremities. Factors associated with a higher risk for stress fractures were female gender, competitive sport prior to triathlon career, Vitamin D or iron deficiency, menstrual disturbances and a high number of annual training hours. Disseminating knowledge among athletes and their professional community in order to raise awareness about early symptoms and relevant risk factors could help to improve prevention and reduce the incidence of stress fractures.
KW  - triathlon
KW  - injury
KW  - stress fracture
KW  - risk factors
KW  - prevention
Y1  - 2019
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/54293
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-542935
SN  - 2075-4663
N1  - This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
VL  - 7
IS  - 4, Art. 88
SP  - 1
EP  - 10
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  -