Abstract
Study Objective
The female athlete triad is often found in sports that value leanness and aesthetics
and can lead to adverse health effects. We aimed to compare knowledge and risk of
the triad among adolescent figure skaters, dancers, and runners.
Design, Setting, Participants, and Main Outcome Measures
We advertised our survey on social media platforms: sports-specific forums; Facebook;
and Instagram. We received 928 responses. We included female figure skaters, dancers,
and runners aged 25 years or younger (N = 712). We asked participants to name the
triad components and dichotomized knowledge scores as high or low. We developed a
6-question triad risk scale and defined “at risk” if participants endorsed 3 or more
questions.
Results
Of 712 participants: 60% were figure skaters; 28% dancers; 12% runners; 78% were adolescents
(≤17 years of age); 22% young adults (18-25 years); 12% had heard of the triad. A
higher proportion of runners than figure skaters and dancers had high knowledge of
the triad (16% vs 6% vs 5%, P < .01). Overall 60% of athletes were “at risk” of the triad, 25% skipped a period
for 3 or more months, and 34% had a history of stress fractures or shin splints. Young
adults vs adolescents and dancers vs figure skaters and runners had nearly twice the
odds of triad risk.
Conclusion
Most athletes were at risk of the triad but few knew about it. Dancers were at higher
risk compared with figure skaters and runners. Efforts should be made to raise awareness
of the triad among athletes, parents, and coaches, with special attention paid to
the dance community.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 02, 2018
Footnotes
The authors indicate no conflicts of interest.
This work was presented, in part, at the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine Annual Research Meeting, Seattle, Washington in March 2018 and at the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Annual Meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida in April 2018. The abstract was published in the supplement to the February, 2018 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc.
