03/26/2025
Fascinating!
Does marathon running increase arthritis risk? A recent study of over 3,800 runners would suggest not!.. 🏃🏽♀️
Hartwell et al. (2024) carried out a survey of Chicago marathon runners and found that hip and knee arthritis wasn’t associated with running history. Instead the most significant risk factors were age, BMI, previous hip or knee injury that prevented running, hip or knee surgery and family history.
These results are encouraging but we should acknowledge the limitations of using a survey without clinical or radiographic evaluation of arthritis and based on self-reported results. The prevalence of arthritis was established by asking participants if they’d ever been diagnosed with arthritis by a doctor.
We also need to consider each individual rather than seeing this as a green light for *all runners* to run despite concerns about joint health. The available evidence suggests that running isn’t damaging for the hips or knees but if a runner chooses to continue it should be at a level that feels manageable in terms of symptoms.
Mild pain that settles quickly after a run is often acceptable. Moderate to severe pain, symptoms that last beyond 24 hours or increases in swelling after activity suggest load is too high and should be modified to a more comfortable level. In addition, loss of joint range and sensations of locking or giving way should be fully assessed as these can require a break from running until addressed.
These are important points to discuss with runners as 1 in 4 runners that were surveyed were advised by their physician to either reduce the amount that they run or stop running all
together. Despite this 94% of all the participants in this study planned to run another marathon!
Reference:
Hartwell MJ, Tanenbaum JE, Chiampas G, Terry MA, Tjong VK. Does Running Increase the Risk of Hip and Knee Arthritis? A Survey of 3804 Marathon Runners. Sports Health. 2024 Jul-Aug;16(4):622-629. doi: 10.1177/19417381231190876. Epub 2023 Aug 9. PMID: 37555313; PMCID: PMC11195863.
