No influence of age, gender, weight, height, and impact profile in achilles tendinopathy in masters track and field athletes.

BACKGROUND: Achilles tendinopathy is commonly reported by athletes involved in activities that include running and jumping. Despite the prevalence of the problem, causative factors in Achilles tendinopathy remain poorly understood. HYPOTHESIS: In Masters track and field athletes, there is no influence of age, gender, weight, height, and impact profile in developing Achilles tendinopathy. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: During the European Veterans Athletics Championships in Poznań, Poland, in July 2006, 178 athletes (110 men and 68 women; mean age, 54.1 years; range, 35-94 years) were evaluated with the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) questionnaire. A fully trained orthopaedic surgeon made a diagnosis of Achilles tendinopathy according to clinical criteria. RESULTS: There was no effect of gender on the presence of Achilles tendinopathy (P = .14). No significant track and field specialty effect upon the frequency of Achilles tendinopathy was found on the VISA-A questionnaire scores (P = .32). Equally, there was no effect of track and field specialty on the VISA-A score (P = .31). No correlation was found between age and VISA-A score (P = .36). There was no statistically significant difference in either prevalence of Achilles tendinopathy or VISA-A score between high-impact and low-impact athletes (P = .19 and P = .31, respectively). CONCLUSION: In competing Masters track and field athletes, we did not find any influence of age, gender, weight, height, or impact profile on the development of Achilles tendinopathy. Additional research is required to improve our understanding of the causative factors in Achilles tendinopathy

Patellar tendinopathy in master track and field athletes: influence of impact profile, weight, height, age and gender.

PURPOSE: Patellar tendinopathy causes significant morbidity in professional and recreational athletes. Despite the relevance of the problem, its causative factors remain poorly understood. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate the influence of age, gender, weight, height and impact profile on developing patellar tendinopathy in master track and field athletes. METHODS: During the European Veterans Athletics Championships in Poznań in July 2006, 174 athletes (103 men and 71 women; mean age: 53.8 (SD 11.4) years, range 35-82 years) were evaluated with the VISA-P questionnaire. A fully trained orthopaedic surgeon made a diagnosis of patellar tendinopathy according to clinical criteria. RESULTS: There was no effect of gender upon the presence of patellar tendinopathy (n.s.). No significant track and field specialty effect upon the frequency of patellar tendinopathy was found on the VISA-P questionnaire scores. There was no effect of track and field specialty on the VISA-P score. No evidence of a statistically significant association was found between age and VISA-P score (n.s.). There was no statistically significant difference in either prevalence of patellar tendinopathy or VISA-P score between high-impact and low-impact athletes (n.s.). CONCLUSION: In master track and field athletes, impact profile, weight, height, age and gender did not exert any influence on developing patellar tendinopathy