COVID-19 in Ultramarathon Runners: Findings of The Ultrarunner Longitudinal TRAcking Study
Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine
; 33(3):290, 2023.
Article
in English
| EMBASE | ID: covidwho-2323897
ABSTRACT
Purpose:
Ultramarathon runners are a unique patient population who have been shown to be free of nearly all severe chronic medical conditions. The effect that COVID-19 infection has on this population and their running behavior is unknown. Method(s) The Ultrarunner Longitudinal TRACking Study (ULTRA Study) is the largest known longitudinal study of ultramarathon runners. Questions on general health status, running behavior, performance, and COVID-19 infection were included. Result(s) Six hundred sixty-two ultramarathon runners participated in the study. This group exercised an average of 10.0 hours per week, including running an average of 26.8 miles per week;52.1% of ultramarathon runners reported ever being symptomatic from a COVID-19 infection with 6.3% testing positive multiple times. Severe infection occurred in 0.3% (2 patients) requiring a total of 3 days of hospitalization. Of those who were infected, 84% were fully vaccinated at the time of their infection;67% of infections effected running for a mean of 33.1 days. The most common other symptoms included fever (73.3%), fatigue (68.7%), sore throat (67.5%), runny nose (67.0%), and cough (66.7%). Cardiovascular symptoms, which are of particular interest in the running population, included shortness of breath (46.4%), increased heart rate (45.2%), chest pain (34.2%), and wheezing (32.5%). Of 662, 48 (7.3%) of ultrarunners reported Long COVID (symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks). Conclusion(s) Severe COVID-19 infection is rare in ultramarathon runners, although symptomatic infection that affects running is common. These rates, along with Long COVID, are lower than is reported in the literature for the population on average.Significance:
Ultrarunners are at very low risk of COVID- 19 symptoms requiring hospital care but significant risk of infection that effects running. Cardiovascular symptoms are common, and the long-term significance of these symptoms in runners is unknown.
adult; cardiovascular symptom; case report; clinical article; conference abstract; coronavirus disease 2019; coughing; dyspnea; fatigue; female; fever; hospital care; hospitalization; human; long COVID; longitudinal study; male; marathon runner; quality of life; rhinorrhea; running; sore throat; tachycardia; thorax pain; wheezing
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
EMBASE
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
/
Vaccines
Language:
English
Journal:
Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS