Disordered eating is not associated with musculoskeletal injury in university athletes

Athletes have a greater risk of developing disordered eating (DE) behaviours than non-athletes. Literature suggests that DE is associated with injury in female athletes; however, these associations are understudied in both female and male athletes. Our objective was to examine the association between DE and injuries in varsity athletes. In this cross-sectional study, varsity student athletes attending a Canadian University completed an anonymous online survey. The survey included questions regarding demographics, injury occurrence, and the Disordered Eating Screen for Athletes (DESA-6; a score ≥ 3 is indicative of DE). Athletes were categorized by DE status and injury occurrence. Chi-Square tests were performed to assess the relationship between these variables. Musculoskeletal injury frequency was compared between DE and non-DE groups using a Mann-Whitney test. Fifty-six varsity athletes (N=37 females, 66.1%) with a mean age of 20.1±1.3 years participated in this study. DE was not associated with injury occurrence (p=0.73) and musculoskeletal injury frequency did not differ between DE and non-DE groups (p=0.50). However, both injury and DE were prevalent as 73.2% of participants reported injuries and 33.9% had positive DESA-6 scores. These findings highlight the need to address DE and injuries in athletes and could encourage the implementation of strategies to reduce their prevalence in sport.