{ "abstract": "Introduction Running is a popular recreational activity worldwide, with women’s participation growing rapidly over the past decade. Compared with men, women runners are more likely to sustain a running-related injury, such as bone stress and knee injuries. Following a serious knee injury and subsequent surgery, women also experience worse knee and health-related outcomes than men. However, little is known about the intersection of female-specific health, physical, psychological and social-gendered factors with knee health in women runners with and without a history of knee surgery.Methods and analysis Building on the established ‘TRAjectory of knee heaLth in runners’ ( TRAIL) prospective cohort study and designed with patient and content-expert partners, the nested TRAIL-W study will comprehensively explore the associations of multiple factors (ie, female-specific health, physical, psychological and social gendered) with knee health (symptoms and structural features), device-measured running load and running-related pain in women runners. Where appropriate, we will explore sex and/or gender differences. Alongside their scheduled TRAIL 6-monthly data collection, all active TRAIL female and male participants will be invited to complete a once-off ‘TRAIL-W survey’ and attend an additional laboratory-based assessment. The survey will include questionnaires measuring psychological, social gendered and, for women only, female-specific health factors. The laboratory assessment will measure body composition, bone mineral density and blood biomarkers. A subset of women will be invited to participate in qualitative interviews to understand women runners’ experiences of female-specific health factors and their association with running behaviour.Ethics and dissemination Findings from TRAIL-W, approved by the La Trobe University Human Ethics Committee, will address critical research gaps by describing and exploring the diverse factors that may influence women runners’ knee health.", "authors": [ { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Melissa J Haberfield" }, { "affiliations": [ "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Sport and Exercise Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Benjamin F Mentiplay" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Danilo De Oliveira Silva" }, { "affiliations": [ "CQUniversity Australia, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia" ], "name": "Melanie Hayman" }, { "affiliations": [ "Monash University Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Jodie Dakic" }, { "affiliations": [ "School of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia" ], "name": "Deirdre E McGhee" }, { "affiliations": [ "Consumer and Community (Patient and Public) Partner, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Taliesin E Ryan-Atwood" }, { "affiliations": [ "West Coast University—Ontario Campus, Ontario, California, USA" ], "name": "Jane S Thornton" }, { "affiliations": [ "Sport and Exercise Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Anthea Clarke" }, { "affiliations": [ "Dietetics, Nutrition and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Andrew D. Govus" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Joshua P Hill" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Indiana Cooper" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Fernanda Serighelli" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Brooke Patterson" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Department of Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Prosthetics and Orthotics, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Andrea Bruder" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Michael A Girdwood" }, { "affiliations": [ "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Sport and Exercise Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "David Carey" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Stephanie Tamer" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Connie Briggs" }, { "affiliations": [ "Western University, London, Ontario, Canada" ], "name": "Jenna Schulz" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Lari Trease" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Richard T.R Johnston" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Department of Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Prosthetics and Orthotics, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Thomas J West" }, { "affiliations": [ "Physical Therapy, Indiana University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA" ], "name": "Stuart Warden" }, { "affiliations": [ "University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA" ], "name": "Richard Souza" }, { "affiliations": [ "Discipline of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Regina Belski" }, { "affiliations": [ "Discipline of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Matthew B Cooke" }, { "affiliations": [ "Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia" ], "name": "Anne Julia Smith" }, { "affiliations": [ "Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia" ], "name": "Tara Binnie" }, { "affiliations": [ "La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia", "Australian IOC Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" ], "name": "Kay M Crossley" } ], "title": "Knee health and associations with female-specific health, physical, psychological and social-gendered factors in women runners: the TRAIL-W cohort study protocol", "uid": "52edf30e-bb7d-56d0-9d05-7da9fadb7df9" }