title: The impact of injury definition on injury surveillance in novice runners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite several consensus statements, different injury definitions are used in the literature. This study aimed to identify the impact of different injury definitions on the nature and incidence of complaints captured during a short-term running program for novice runners.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  1696 participants completed weekly diaries on running exposure and musculoskeletal complaints during a 6-week running program. These data were used to compare six different injury definitions (presence of running-related pain, training-reduction, time-loss of one day or one week). Injuries were registered under these different definitions. Consequently incidence and the nature of complaints were compared between definitions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The different injury definitions resulted in incidences that varied between 7.5% and 58.0%, or 18.7 and 239.6 injuries per 1000h of running. The median duration of injury complaints was 4-7 days for injuries registered under a 'day definition', while complaints registered under a 'week definition' lasted 20-22 days. For running-related pain injuries the median of the maximum amount of pain was 3.0. In training-reduction and time-loss injuries these median values were scored between 5.0 and 7.0. No significant differences in anatomical locations between injuries that were registered under a 'day definition' or a 'week definition' were found. Injuries registered under a time-loss definition were located relatively more often at the knee, while complaints at the pelvis/sacrum/buttock were captured more often under a running-related pain definition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Injury definitions largely impact injury incidence. Location of injury is also affected by choice of injury definition. This stressed the need for standardized injury registration methods.
authors.affiliation: Center for Sports Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: b.kluitenberg@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: Bas
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kluitenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marienke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Middelkoop
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention (ACRISP), Federation University Australia, SMB Campus, Australia.
authors.forename: Evert
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Verhagen
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology and Surgery, Research School CAPHRI, Maastricht University Medical Center+, and Sports Medicine Center Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hartgens
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Nursing Science & Sports, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neurosciences, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bionka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huisstede
authors.affiliation: Center for Sports Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Diercks
authors.affiliation: Center for Sports Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van der Worp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004282:Documentation / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000293:injuries; D008161:Lumbosacral Region / Q000293:injuries; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012420:Running / Q000293:injuries*; D057566:Self Report; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Epidemiology; Injury prevention; Running injuries