Identification, evaluation and management of disordered eating (DE) is complex. DE exists along the spectrum from optimised nutrition through to clinical eating disorders (EDs). Individual athletes can move back and forth along the spectrum of eating behaviour at any point in time over their career and within different stages of a training cycle. Athletes are more likely to present with DE than a clinical ED. Overall, there is a higher prevalence of DE and EDs in athletes compared with non-athletes. Additionally, athletes participating in aesthetic, gravitational and weight-class sports are at higher risk of DE and EDs than those in sports without these characteristics. The evaluation and management of DE requires a cohesive team of professional practitioners consisting of, at minimum, a doctor, a sports dietitian and a psychologist, termed within this statement as the core multidisciplinary team. The Australian Institute of Sport and the National Eating Disorders Collaboration have collaborated to provide this position statement, containing guidelines for athletes, coaches, support staff, clinicians and sporting organisations. The guidelines support the prevention and early identification of DE, and promote timely intervention to optimise nutrition for performance in a safe, supported, purposeful and individualised manner. This position statement is a call to action to all involved in sport to be aware of poor self-image and poor body image among athletes. The practical recommendations should guide the clinical management of DE in high performance sport.
Depression is common among athletes following sport injury, yet few studies have explored the severity of postinjury depression. Among those studies, only one examined gender differences although women in the general population are more likely than men to experience depression. No research to date has used interviews to assess depression despite their standard use among mental health professionals. In a quasi-experimental design, we used a self-report checklist and a clinical interview to compare depression among male and female athletes at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postinjury. Results revealed significant effects of group (injured vs. control) and time (since injury), and these effects were different for the two depression measures. We also explored the sensitivity and specificity of the user-rated checklist in identifying severely depressed athletes compared with the interview. Findings underscore the importance of multimodal approaches and clinical judgment when evaluating athletes' postinjury depression symptoms.
Context:Rehabilitation adherence is accepted as a critical component for attaining optimal outcomes. Poor adherence is recognized as a problem in the athletic training setting. Measurement has been inconsistent, and no measure has been developed for athletic training settings.Objective:To identify indicators of sportinjury rehabilitation adherence relevant to athletic training and develop a Rehabilitation Adherence Measure for Athletic Training (RAdMAT) based on these indicators.Design:Mixed methods, 3 steps.Setting:College athletic training facility.Participants:Practicing certified athletic trainers (ATCs; n = 7) generated items, experts (n = 12) reviewed them, and practicing ATCs (n = 164) completed the RAdMAT for their most, average, and least adherent athlete.Main Outcome Measure:RAdMAT.Results:The RAdMAT is 16 items with 3 subscales. Subscales and total have good internal consistency and clearly discriminate among adherence levels.Conclusions:The RAdMAT is based on scholarly literature and clinical practice, making it particularly appropriate for use in athletic training clinical practice or for research purposes.
All participants reported at least one illness symptom in the previous month. Low energy availability was a leading variable associated with illness in Olympic-class athletes. The estimates duration of symptoms ranged from 2 to 7 days. Factor analyses show the interdependence of various health domains and support multidisciplinary care.
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