Women Less Likely to Experience Musculotendinous Injury Than Men

TUESDAY, April 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Younger women are less likely to develop musculotendinous injury (MTI) relative to total injuries when compared with men, according to a study published online in the March issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Luis A. Rodriguez II, from the University of Texas at Dallas, and colleagues sought to characterize the effect of sex and oral contraception usage on MTI. The analysis included data from 42,267 patients (aged 18 to 39 years) with orthopedic injuries who were separated into three groups: men, women taking oral contraceptives (OC), and eumenorrheic women not taking any form of hormonal contraceptives (non-OC).

The researchers identified skeletal MTI in 3.49 percent of men, 2.55 percent of non-OC women, and 0.55 percent of OC women. A significantly smaller proportion of MTI was seen in both the non-OC and OC groups versus men. When controlling for potential covariates, both female groups were less likely to experience MTI (adjusted odds ratios, 0.72 and 0.15, respectively).

“These results are consistent with other epidemiological studies; however, overall results in the literature are variable,” the authors write. “This study adds to the emerging body of literature on sex hormone–influenced musculoskeletal injury but, more specifically, MTI, which have not been rigorously investigated.”

Abstract/Full Text