THE INCIDENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF STRESS-FRACTURES IN COMPETITIVE TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES - A 12-MONTH PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

The incidence and distribution of stress fractures were evaluated pros pectively over 12 months in 53 female and 58 male competitive track an d field athletes (age range, 17 to 26 years). Twenty athletes sustaine d 26 stress fractures for an overall incidence rate of 21.1%. The inci dence was 0.70 for the number of stress fractures per 1000 hours of tr aining. No differences were observed between male and female rates (P > 0.05). Twenty-six stress fractures composed 20% of the 130 musculosk eletal injuries sustained during the study. Although there was no diff erence in stress fracture incidence among athletes competing in differ ent events (P > 0.05), sprints, hurdles, and jumps were associated wit h a significantly greater number of foot fractures; middle- and long-d istance running were associated with a greater number of long bone and pelvic fractures (P < 0.05). Overall, the most common sites of bone i njuries were the tibia with 12 injuries (46%), followed by the navicul ar with 4 injuries (15%), and the fibula with 3 injuries (12%). The hi gh incidence of stress fractures in our study suggests that risk facto rs in track and field athletes should be identified.