A self-reported questionnaire for quantifying illness symptoms in elite athletes

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Exercise Physiology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Quantifying illness in athletes is crucial for understanding training impacts.
• Previous methods lacked field-based, symptom-specific data.
• An athlete illness questionnaire was needed to assess illness patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an athlete illness questionnaire.
• To compare illness frequency, duration, and severity in highly-trained runners versus recreationally-active individuals.
• To investigate the relationship between training load and illness proneness in runners.

Main Methods:

• A daily illness questionnaire was used over three months.
• Participants self-reported illness type, frequency, duration, severity, and impact on exercise.
• 35 participants (12 runners, 23 medical students) completed the study.

Main Results:

• Runners had similar illness frequency but significantly longer illness duration and higher illness load compared to controls.
• Illness episodes in runners lasted longer and had a greater impact on daily activity.
• Higher training loads were marginally associated with increased illness proneness in runners.

Conclusions:

• The athlete illness questionnaire effectively quantifies self-reported illness symptoms in field settings.
• Highly-trained runners experience more prolonged and impactful illness episodes than recreationally-active individuals.
• The findings highlight the need for targeted illness management strategies in elite athletes.