Illness perceptions and mood states are associated with injury-related outcomes in athletes

Background. Athletes have to cope adequately with the consequences of their injury in order to return into sports as soon as possible. Besides the physical characteristics of the injury, illness perceptions and emotional responses impact the behavioural responses to the injury. Purpose. To apply Leventhal's Common Sense Model as a theoretical framework in the field of sports medicine, pertaining to injured athletes. Methods. In a sample of 95 injured athletes participating in different sports, sociodemographic, injury and sport-related characteristics, the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised-Sports (IPQ-R-S) and the Profile Of Mood States were assessed. Results. Injured athletes' most experienced symptoms were pain (82%) and loss of strength (50%), associated with a high controllability; they see their injury as not chronic, with minor consequences for daily life and minor emotional consequences. Athletes with an injury of longer duration have minor psychological attributions, 28% suffer from fatigue, which is strongly related to a negative mood state. Conclusions. Illness perceptions and mood states are related to injury characteristics. Clinicians ought to incorporate patients' views about their injuries into their treatment in order to increase the concordance between patient's and clinician's perceptions, thereby increasing chances of a quick and uneventful recovery.