Health professionals' perceptions of musculoskeletal injury and injury risk factors in Australian triathletes: A factor analysis

This study investigated health professional perceptions of triathlon-related injury risk factors and injury prevention strategies, to inform prospective cohort studies investigating injury in triathletes. Design Exploratory factor analysis. Methods A questionnaire was developed and distributed to Australian sports medicine health professionals (n = 504). Information was collected about their perceptions of factors contributing to injury and injury prevention strategies relating to Sprint/Olympic (S/O) and Ironman/Long Course (I/LC) athletes. Factor analysis was performed to identify the number and nature of the constructs (factors) underlying the responses to the questions, and to ascertain whether these factors were similar for S/O and I/LC athletes. Results The response rate was 22.4 (n = 113). Five factors were extracted for injury risk accounting for 53 (S/O) and 56 (I/LC) of the variance. The factors were common across S/O and I/LC groups; biomechanics and technique, training factors, demographics, injury prevention and personal factors. Three common factors accounted for 54 (S/O) and 55 (I/LC) of the variance for injury prevention strategies; designated training regimes, health and medical monitoring and preparation of the triathlete. Conclusions These results indicate that future studies into triathlon injuries should include, at a minimum, detailed training load and demographic factors to test their impact as injury risk factors in triathlete populations.