Self-reported versus diagnosed stress fractures in Norwegian female elite athletes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of selfreported versus diagnosed stress fractures in female elite athletes and non-athletic controls. A random sample of Norwegian elite athletes from the national teams, aged 13-39 years (n = 186) and a random sample of non-athletic controls (n = 145) in the same age group participated in the study. The athletes represented a junior- or senior team, or a recruiting squad for one of these teams, in one of 46 different sports/events. A higher percentage of athletes self-reported stress fractures (14.0%) compared to those diagnosed with stress fractures (8.1%) (p < 0.001). Six controls self-reported stress fractures, but none of them were diagnosed with stress fractures. These results indicate that selfreporting of stress fractures has low validity. This finding has important implications for further research on stress fractures in athletes.