Journal article
Prevalence, incidence and characteristics of musculoskeletal injuries in Athletics (track and field): a systematic review and meta-analysis
British journal of sports medicine, 432520
02/05/2026
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2025-110541
PMID: 41644276
Abstract
Objective To quantify the extent of musculoskeletal injuries in Olympic Athletics (track and field) disciplines by synthesising the current evidence on the prevalence of injured athletes, injury event incidence rates and injury characteristics.
Design Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data sources MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL and Cochrane were searched from inception to 28 January 2025.
Eligibility criteria Studies reporting athletics-related musculoskeletal injuries in Olympic Athletics disciplines.
Results From 18 319 identified references, 216 studies were included; 38% of these studies were classified as having low study quality. Data synthesis was performed on 88 studies reporting on all injuries across all Athletics disciplines (21.6% with high study quality). The synthesised prevalence of injured athletes was 11.7% (95% CI 2.0% to 26.9%) for prospective studies only including championship/competition data, and 69.7% (95% CI 52.4% to 84.5%) for prospective studies combining training and competition data. The synthesised injury event incidence rates were 68.8 injuries per 1000 registered athletes (95% CI 39.4 to 120.2) for prospective studies only including championship/competition data, and 4.2 injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures (95% CI 2.1 to 7.7) and 3.8 injuries per 1000 hours of Athletics (95% CI 1.7 to 8.3) for prospective studies combining training and competition data. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation certainty of evidence was ‘very low’ for all outcomes, and ‘low’ for the injury event incidence rate per 1000 registered athletes for prospective studies conducted in championship/competition settings. Injuries were mainly located at the thigh, followed by the lower leg, foot and ankle. The main tissue type affected was the muscle, followed by tendon, ligament, skin, bone and joint.
Conclusions This systematic review with meta-analysis quantified the extent of musculoskeletal injuries in Athletics. Our findings inform future research and healthcare service planning and support targeted injury risk reduction strategies at all levels in Athletics.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Prevalence, incidence and characteristics of musculoskeletal injuries in Athletics (track and field): a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Creators
- Pascal Edouard - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-ÉtienneYuka Tsukahara - University of IowaRobert H Mann - University of ExeterNicolas de Neve - Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Castres-MazametToomas Timpka - Linköping UniversitySpyridon Iatropoulos - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1David Blanco - Universitat Internacional de CatalunyaPierre-Eddy Dandrieux - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1Jenny Jacobsson - Linköping UniversityConstance Mosser - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1Jane S Thornton - International Olympic CommitteePedro Branco - European Athletics Medical & Anti-Doping Commission, European Athletics Association (EAA), Lausanne, SwitzerlandTim Hoenig - Universität HamburgKarsten Hollander - MSH Medical School Hamburg – University of Applied Sciences and Medical University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- British journal of sports medicine, 432520
- DOI
- 10.1136/bjsports-2025-110541
- PMID
- 41644276
- NLM abbreviation
- Br J Sports Med
- ISSN
- 0306-3674
- eISSN
- 1473-0480
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 02/05/2026
- Academic Unit
- Family and Community Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9985139299302771
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