American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
For Immediate Release May 10, 2017

Novel Risk Assessment Tool Predicting Future Bone Stress Injuries in Runners

San Diego, CA – Emily Kraus, MD presented a research abstract about predicting bone stress injury risk between males and females at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine in San Diego, CA.

Bone stress injuries are a common overuse injury in runners, and Dr. Kraus led a three-year prospective study analyzing the utility of the Female Athlete Triad Cumulative Risk Assessment score and a new Male Athlete Cumulative Risk Assessment score in predicting bone stress injuries in Division I collegiate female and male long-distance runners.

The results demonstrated that higher male risk assessment scores were associated with an increased incidence of bone stress injuries in male distance runners. Female risk assessment scores were not associated bone stress injuries in female runners. This was the first study to look at risk assessment to predict future bone stress injuries in male runners.

“Bone stress injuries are a frustratingly common injury in both male and female middle and long distance runners. In females, clinicians have a systematic method of risk assessment utilizing the Female Athlete Triad and a similar method is greatly needed in male athletes,” said Dr. Kraus, a Sports Medicine fellow at Stanford University. “A risk assessment in males assessing for low energy availability, suboptimal bone health and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism could be a valuable tool in preventing season-ending bone stress injuries.”

With more than 1,800 sports medicine physicians attending from throughout the United States and around the world, the 2017 Annual Meeting explores current decisions, controversies as well as best practices related to Medicine in Motion that defines the clinical practice of sports medicine.

About the AMSSM Annual Meeting: The conference features lectures and research addressing the most challenging topics in sports medicine today including overhead athlete care, military medicine, sports performance training, youth sports, professional athlete care, leg pain, mental health in athletes, current sports medicine topics and much more.

About the AMSSM: AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of more than 3,300 sports medicine physicians dedicated to education, research, advocacy and the care of athletes of all ages. The majority of AMSSM members are primary care physicians with fellowship training and added qualification in sports medicine who then combine their practice of sports medicine with their primary specialty. AMSSM includes members who specialize solely in non-surgical sports medicine and serve as team physicians at the youth level, NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS and NHL, as well as with Olympic teams. By nature of their training and experience, sports medicine physicians are ideally suited to provide comprehensive medical care for athletes, sports teams or active individuals who are simply looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. www.amssm.org