PhD defence T. (Tryntsje) Fokkema

Running is a popular sport that has many positive effects on well-being. However, a main drawback is the high number of injuries. Little is known about the recovery and prevention of running injuries. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to gain more insight in the prognosis and prevention of injuries in recreational runners. The prognosis of injuries was studied in participants of a running program for novice runners (N=771). 48.8% of these runners sustained an injury with a median duration of 8 weeks. Participants who suffered from an injury before had a relatively poor prognosis, while a calf injury was associated with a relatively short recovery time. An injury was also the main reason to stop running. In the INSPIRE-trial we studied whether an online injure prevention program could reduce the number of running injuries. 2378 runners who registered for a running event of Golazo Sports (5 km up to a marathon) were included. Half of the participants had access to the prevention program, which included advices on to reduce the injury risk in running. After 4-5 months, 37.1% of the runners reported a new injury. There were no differences between the intervention group (37.5%) and control group (36.7%). We also asked the participants for their opinion and experienced barriers of injury prevention. Results showed that runners rated injury prevention as very important and that over 80% performed injury prevention measures. Most frequently reported barriers for injury prevention were ‘not knowing what to do’ and ‘no history of injuries’.

The public defence will take place at the Prof. Andries Queridoroom, 3rd floor Education Center, Erasmus MC. The ceremony will begin exactly at 15.30 hrs. In light of the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.