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Infographic. Running Myth: recreational running causes knee osteoarthritis
  1. James L N Alexander1,2,
  2. Richard W Willy3,
  3. Adam G Culvenor1,
  4. Christian J Barton1,4,5
  1. 1 La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
  2. 2 Evado Studios Nelson Bay, Nelson Bay, New South Wales, Australia
  3. 3 Physical Therapy and Movement Science, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
  4. 4 Department of Physiotherapy, Podiatry and Prosthetics and Orthotics, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
  5. 5 Department of Surgery, St Vincent’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Mr James L N Alexander, La Trobe Sport and Exercise Research Centre, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia; j.alexander{at}latrobe.edu.au

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-104342

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    Running is often perceived as bad for your knees.1 In particular, concern exists regarding the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis due to long-term exposure to running.1

    Despite these fears, recreational running does not have negative consequences on knee joint articular cartilage in runners without symptomatic knee osteoarthritis2 3 and may actually be beneficial for long-term joint health4 (see figure 1). Only 3.5% (95% CI 3.4% to 3.6%) of recreational (amateur) runners have osteoarthritis (knee or hip) compared with 10.2% (95% CI 9.9% to 10.6%) of sedentary individuals.4 However, a dose–response relationship may be present; 13.3% (95% CI 11.6% to 15.2%) of elite or ex-elite runners (competitive professional athletes of an international level) had osteoarthritis, a higher rate than seen in recreational …

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @JamesA_15, @rwilly2003, @agculvenor, @DrChrisBarton

    • Contributors JLNA and CJB conceived the idea. JLNA led development of the infographic and accompanying text. All authors contributed and approved the final infographic and accompanying text.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests CJB is a deputy editor and AGC is an associate editor of BJSM.

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