Prevalence of Exercise Dependence Among High-Intensity Functional Training Practitioners: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

The objective was to explore the prevalence of exercise dependence (ED) risk among regular HIFT exercisers. Secondary objectives include exploring the prevalence of injuries within this population and examining the potential association between ED risk and injury prevalence. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a city in southern Brazil and included HIFT practitioners. ED was evaluated using the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R). The primary outcome was the prevalence of ED risk. The final analysis included 64 HIFT practitioners, of whom the majority were female (n = 35; 54.7%). The mean EDS-R score was 67.6 ± 14.7. A weak positive correlation was found between the duration of HIFT practice (r = 0.312) and weekly training frequency (r = 0.442) with EDS-R scores. Categorically, 25.0% (n = 16) of participants were classified as being at risk for ED, 60.9% (n = 39) as symptomatic non-dependent, and 14.1% (n = 9) as asymptomatic non-dependent. The prevalence of injuries among participants was 32.8% (n = 21). The mean EDS-R score was 71.0 ± 14.4 for participants with a history of injury and 65.9 ± 14.7 for those without a history of injury. The effect size, measured by Cohen's d, was 0.35 (95% CI: -0.19 to 0.89), indicating no significant difference between the two groups. A high prevalence of ED was observed among HIFT practitioners. Raising awareness of the risk of developing this pathological behavior may help in detection of symptoms and the implementation of preventive and interventional strategies.