{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,5]],"date-time":"2026-11-05T13:16:14Z","timestamp":1793884574135,"version":"4.7.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]],"date-time":"2023-01-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1673395200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":10,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Sport Information Resource Centre"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,5]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Little is known about the impact of elite sport participation on long-term athlete health. We aimed to: (1) describe musculoskeletal, mental health, reproductive\/endocrine and cardiovascular characteristics in retired elite female athletes and compare to the general population and (2) explore athletes\u2019 perceptions of their elite sport participation and its impact on health.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>A 136-item online questionnaire was disseminated to Canadian elite female rowing and rugby athletes &gt;18 years old, <jats:underline>&gt;<\/jats:underline>2 years retired from elite competition. Matched general population data were obtained from Statistics Canada when available.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Seventy-four (24% response rate) athletes (average age 45 (\u00b19) years; retired 15 (\u00b19) years) completed the questionnaire (30 rowing, 44 rugby athletes). During their career, 63 athletes (85%) experienced a hip\/groin, knee, foot\/ankle injury, or low back pain, with 42 (67%) reporting ongoing symptoms. Athletes 35\u201354 years reported worse knee symptoms and quality of life compared with the general population (symptom: p=0.197; d=1.15 [0.66, 1.63]; quality of life: p=0.312 d=1.03 [0.54, 1.51]) while other hip, knee and foot\/ankle outcome scores were similar. Retired athletes had lower odds of anxiety (OR=0.155 [95% CI0.062 to 0.384]), greater lifetime\/ever odds of amenorrhea (OR=6.10 [95%CI 2.67 to 13.96]) and gave birth when older (p&lt;0.05). Fifty-nine (79%) recalled witnessing or experiencing at least one form of harassment\/abuse during their career. Sixty athletes (81%) rated their current health as above average or excellent and 61 (82%) would compete at the same level again if given the choice.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>These novel insights can inform future preventative efforts to promote positive elite sport-related outcomes for current, former and future female athletes.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjsem-2022-001479","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]],"date-time":"2023-01-11T10:51:44Z","timestamp":1673434304000},"page":"e001479","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["Beyond the medals: a cross-sectional study exploring retired elite female athletes\u2019 health"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3519-7101","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jane","family":"Thornton","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Casey","family":"Rosen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Return to Health and Performance Lab, Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Margie","family":"Davenport","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8604-2014","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Margo Lynn","family":"Mountjoy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Dorian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0126-4177","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincent","family":"Gouttebarge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Orthopaedic Surgery, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Duivendrecht, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Becky","family":"Breau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Return to Health and Performance Lab, Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eva","family":"Pila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Return to Health and Performance Lab, Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kristen","family":"Reilly","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Return to Health and Performance Lab, Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jane","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kelly","family":"Mok","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Return to Health and Performance Lab, Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Steve","family":"Di Ciacca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Return to Health and Performance Lab, Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mark","family":"Speechley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kay","family":"Crossley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"La Trobe Sport and Exercise Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025083111171219000_9.1.e001479.1","unstructured":"Ljungqvist A . 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