Utilization Of Fluid Intake Practices And Adoption Of Hydration Assessment In Endurance Runners: A Survey-based Approach

BACKGROUND: Hydration optimization strategies, like pre-programmed fluid intake (FI), aim to preserve performance outcomes and prevent adverse health events. Australian endurance runners may be at greater risk for negative performance and health outcomes caused by dehydration due to training and racing in hot and humid environments. FI strategies are highly individualized; thus, runners may not adequately adopt them despite knowledge of negative outcomes. PURPOSE: To determine the perceived benefits of FI practices to reduce the risk of experiencing heat illnesses (HI) among Australian endurance runners and identify if FI strategies differ between sexes and across performance levels. METHODS: Runners (M/F: n = 170/164, age = 40 ± 13/36 ± 12y, 5 km personal best (PB) = 21:10 ± 3:32/25:20 ± 4:16 m:s, total training minutes week-1 = 252 ± 156/221 ± 148, total training distance week-1 = 46 ± 46/32 ± 19 km) completed an online questionnaire. The following three statements were scored by runners using a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly Agree - Strongly Disagree): runners’ adaptability to FI practices to ensure their methods reflect health outcomes over performance outcomes, the use of a planned FI strategy before a run to reduce HI, and the assessment of hydration status before exercise as a necessary process to prevent HI. Chi-square analyses evaluated sex differences, and linear models assessed the effects of statement agreeance, sex, age, total training minutes and distance on PB. Significance was set to p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: 79.9% of females and 69.4% of males identified that their FI practices reflect health outcomes over performance outcomes (χ2 = 5.455, p = 0.065). Runners who had a mean score of unsure or disagree with the items reported a slower best time (161.1 s, [95%CI = 41.7, 280.5], p = 0.009; 94.3 s, [95%CI = -1.4, 190.0], p = 0.054) than those who agreed. No difference existed between sexes for each item’s responses (p ≥ 0.05). CONCLUSION: Endurance runners report perceived benefits toward FI practices that reflect health outcomes over performance outcomes. Runners reporting agreement with pre-planned FI strategies and undertaking hydration assessments had a faster PB. Future investigations are needed to examine the adoption of these practices in both training and racing environments.