You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Original articles
Incidence of midportion Achilles tendinopathy in the general population
  1. S de Jonge1,2,
  2. C van den Berg1,
  3. R J de Vos1,
  4. H J L van der Heide3,
  5. A Weir1,
  6. J A N Verhaar2,
  7. S M A Bierma-Zeinstra2,4,
  8. J L Tol1
  1. 1Sports Medicine Department, The Hague Medical Centre, Leidschendam, The Netherlands
  2. 2Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  3. 3Department of Orthopaedics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
  4. 4Department of General Practice, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  1. Correspondence to S de Jonge, Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; s.dejonge{at}erasmusmc.nl

Abstract

Background Achilles tendon disorders, like Achilles tendinopathy, are very common among athletes. In the general population, however, knowledge about the incidence of Achilles tendinopathy is lacking.

Design Cross-sectional study.

Methods In a cohort of 57.725 persons registered in primary care, the number of patients visiting the general practitioner (GP) with diagnosis of mid-portion Achilles tendon problems was counted using computerised registration networks of GPs in 2009. Subsequently, the authors assessed associations of these rates with demographic characteristics.

Results The incidence rate of Achilles tendinopathy is 1.85 per 1,000 Dutch GP registered patients. In the adult population (21–60 years), the incidence rate is 2.35 per 1,000. In 35% of the cases, a relationship with sports activity was recorded.

Conclusion This is the first report on incidence rates of mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy in general practice. With an incidence of 1.85 per 1,000 registered persons, Achilles tendinopathy is frequently seen by GPs. The actual incidence might even be higher due to study limitations. More research on the frequency of this injury is required.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2011-090342

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.