Going their own way-male recreational runners and running-related injuries : a qualitative thematic analysis

Benjamin Peterson; Angela Searle; Martin Spink; Fiona Hawke; Robin Callister; Vivienne Chuter

Going their own way-male recreational runners and running-related injuries : a qualitative thematic analysis

Benjamin Peterson, Angela Searle, Martin Spink, Fiona Hawke, Robin Callister, Vivienne Chuter

Western Sydney University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective Recreational running is one of the most common physical leisure activities worldwide and is associated with high rates of running related injury (RRI). Little is known of the perceptions of male recreational runners regarding the aetiology and management of RRI. Design Utilising an interpretive phenomenological analysis framework, qualitative data was gathered from participants via interview, and reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop insights into the experiences and perceptions of the participants in relation to RRI. Materials and methods Two focus groups with a total of six (mean age 37.8 ± 9.5 years, 16.5 ± 13.1 years running experience) male recreational runners were used to obtain data regarding their understanding of RRI causation, prevention and management. Interviews were evaluated using a sixphase reflexive thematic analysis approach to generate and interpret themes within the data. Results Three themes (Mind, Body and Education) were identified by the analysis as critical to RRI avoidance. Mind refers to the self-understanding and self-management of personal limits required for RRI prevention. Body reflects a degree of physical conditioning necessary for injury free running, while Education indicates an understanding of how to correctly structure a running program. When viewed together these themes can be seen to form an 'internal locus of injury' model which highlights the runners' beliefs that RRI are related to their decisions regarding training and running, and that avoidance of injury lies within their personal control. Conclusion Recreational runners rely on self-management, in preference to professional advice, to manage training loads, fitness and RRI. Health care professionals involved with this population may consider the use of online resources, a preferred option of runners, to assist runners to build their knowledge base and support their development to experienced runners.

Original language	English
Article number	e0273401
Number of pages	12
Journal	PLoS One
Volume	17
Issue number	8
Publication status	Published - 2022

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2022 Peterson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Cite this

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title = "Going their own way-male recreational runners and running-related injuries : a qualitative thematic analysis",

abstract = "Objective Recreational running is one of the most common physical leisure activities worldwide and is associated with high rates of running related injury (RRI). Little is known of the perceptions of male recreational runners regarding the aetiology and management of RRI. Design Utilising an interpretive phenomenological analysis framework, qualitative data was gathered from participants via interview, and reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop insights into the experiences and perceptions of the participants in relation to RRI. Materials and methods Two focus groups with a total of six (mean age 37.8 ± 9.5 years, 16.5 ± 13.1 years running experience) male recreational runners were used to obtain data regarding their understanding of RRI causation, prevention and management. Interviews were evaluated using a sixphase reflexive thematic analysis approach to generate and interpret themes within the data. Results Three themes (Mind, Body and Education) were identified by the analysis as critical to RRI avoidance. Mind refers to the self-understanding and self-management of personal limits required for RRI prevention. Body reflects a degree of physical conditioning necessary for injury free running, while Education indicates an understanding of how to correctly structure a running program. When viewed together these themes can be seen to form an 'internal locus of injury' model which highlights the runners' beliefs that RRI are related to their decisions regarding training and running, and that avoidance of injury lies within their personal control. Conclusion Recreational runners rely on self-management, in preference to professional advice, to manage training loads, fitness and RRI. Health care professionals involved with this population may consider the use of online resources, a preferred option of runners, to assist runners to build their knowledge base and support their development to experienced runners.",

author = "Benjamin Peterson and Angela Searle and Martin Spink and Fiona Hawke and Robin Callister and Vivienne Chuter",

year = "2022",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

journal = "PLoS One",

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publisher = "Public Library of Science",

number = "8",

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T1 - Going their own way-male recreational runners and running-related injuries : a qualitative thematic analysis

AU - Peterson, Benjamin

AU - Searle, Angela

AU - Spink, Martin

AU - Hawke, Fiona

AU - Callister, Robin

AU - Chuter, Vivienne

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Objective Recreational running is one of the most common physical leisure activities worldwide and is associated with high rates of running related injury (RRI). Little is known of the perceptions of male recreational runners regarding the aetiology and management of RRI. Design Utilising an interpretive phenomenological analysis framework, qualitative data was gathered from participants via interview, and reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop insights into the experiences and perceptions of the participants in relation to RRI. Materials and methods Two focus groups with a total of six (mean age 37.8 ± 9.5 years, 16.5 ± 13.1 years running experience) male recreational runners were used to obtain data regarding their understanding of RRI causation, prevention and management. Interviews were evaluated using a sixphase reflexive thematic analysis approach to generate and interpret themes within the data. Results Three themes (Mind, Body and Education) were identified by the analysis as critical to RRI avoidance. Mind refers to the self-understanding and self-management of personal limits required for RRI prevention. Body reflects a degree of physical conditioning necessary for injury free running, while Education indicates an understanding of how to correctly structure a running program. When viewed together these themes can be seen to form an 'internal locus of injury' model which highlights the runners' beliefs that RRI are related to their decisions regarding training and running, and that avoidance of injury lies within their personal control. Conclusion Recreational runners rely on self-management, in preference to professional advice, to manage training loads, fitness and RRI. Health care professionals involved with this population may consider the use of online resources, a preferred option of runners, to assist runners to build their knowledge base and support their development to experienced runners.

AB - Objective Recreational running is one of the most common physical leisure activities worldwide and is associated with high rates of running related injury (RRI). Little is known of the perceptions of male recreational runners regarding the aetiology and management of RRI. Design Utilising an interpretive phenomenological analysis framework, qualitative data was gathered from participants via interview, and reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop insights into the experiences and perceptions of the participants in relation to RRI. Materials and methods Two focus groups with a total of six (mean age 37.8 ± 9.5 years, 16.5 ± 13.1 years running experience) male recreational runners were used to obtain data regarding their understanding of RRI causation, prevention and management. Interviews were evaluated using a sixphase reflexive thematic analysis approach to generate and interpret themes within the data. Results Three themes (Mind, Body and Education) were identified by the analysis as critical to RRI avoidance. Mind refers to the self-understanding and self-management of personal limits required for RRI prevention. Body reflects a degree of physical conditioning necessary for injury free running, while Education indicates an understanding of how to correctly structure a running program. When viewed together these themes can be seen to form an 'internal locus of injury' model which highlights the runners' beliefs that RRI are related to their decisions regarding training and running, and that avoidance of injury lies within their personal control. Conclusion Recreational runners rely on self-management, in preference to professional advice, to manage training loads, fitness and RRI. Health care professionals involved with this population may consider the use of online resources, a preferred option of runners, to assist runners to build their knowledge base and support their development to experienced runners.

UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:68095

M3 - Article

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 17

JO - PLoS One

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IS - 8

M1 - e0273401

ER -

Going their own way-male recreational runners and running-related injuries : a qualitative thematic analysis

Abstract

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