TY - JOUR
T1 - Sports Participation and Osteoarthritis in Females
T2 - A Systematic Review
AU - Brent, Magnus
AU - Brent, Mikkel Bo
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - Sports participation and the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) have been a concern for decades. Few research efforts have been dedicated to clarify this issue for females, although they are considered at greater risk of developing OA than males. In contrast, several reviews have established an association between sports participation and OA for males. The aim of the systematic review was to assess the association between OA and participation in popular sports for females. PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar were searched and yielded 578 articles. Nine eligible studies were included and covered ballet (age range: 19-54 years), running or tennis (age range: 40-65 years), Olympic sports (age range: not specified), volleyball (age range: 16.0 ± 0.8 to 46.8 ± 5.1 years), and cross-country skiing (age range: 15 to ≥60 years). For females, participating in sports at an elite level was associated with a higher risk of OA and an increased need for surgical treatment. At non-elite level, it was associated with a higher risk of OA, but it did not materialize to an increased risk for surgical treatment. Few studies compared females and males, and these studies suggested that sex did not affect the risk of developing OA from participating in sports. Nevertheless, to isolate the precise effect of sports participation on the development of OA remains difficult as injuries are common among athletes and are independently associated with an increased risk of OA.
AB - Sports participation and the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) have been a concern for decades. Few research efforts have been dedicated to clarify this issue for females, although they are considered at greater risk of developing OA than males. In contrast, several reviews have established an association between sports participation and OA for males. The aim of the systematic review was to assess the association between OA and participation in popular sports for females. PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar were searched and yielded 578 articles. Nine eligible studies were included and covered ballet (age range: 19-54 years), running or tennis (age range: 40-65 years), Olympic sports (age range: not specified), volleyball (age range: 16.0 ± 0.8 to 46.8 ± 5.1 years), and cross-country skiing (age range: 15 to ≥60 years). For females, participating in sports at an elite level was associated with a higher risk of OA and an increased need for surgical treatment. At non-elite level, it was associated with a higher risk of OA, but it did not materialize to an increased risk for surgical treatment. Few studies compared females and males, and these studies suggested that sex did not affect the risk of developing OA from participating in sports. Nevertheless, to isolate the precise effect of sports participation on the development of OA remains difficult as injuries are common among athletes and are independently associated with an increased risk of OA.
KW - Olympic sports
KW - bone
KW - elite sports
KW - non-elite sports
KW - osteoarthritis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183339765&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/sports12010015
DO - 10.3390/sports12010015
M3 - Review article
C2 - 38251289
SN - 2075-4663
VL - 12
JO - Sports (Basel, Switzerland)
JF - Sports (Basel, Switzerland)
IS - 1
M1 - 15
ER -