Achilles Tendon Study

My name is Katie Antle and I am a graduate student at the University of California, Davis in the Biomedical Engineering Department currently conducting research in the Human Performance Laboratory. I am interested in the incidence of Achilles tendon injury in the 35-50 year old population, as this is the age range in which the majority of these injuries occur. I am hoping that you will answer a few short questions so that I can gage the prevalence of these injuries in the local population and decide if research in this area is warranted. The more information we have regarding Achilles tendon injuries, the better prepared we will be to prevent and treat such injuries. Simply 'reply' to this message and answer the following questions as accurately as possible. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Thank you for your help.

Achilles Tendon Injury Questionnaire

1. Gender: Male or Female

2. Age:

3. Briefly describe the types of exercise/physical activity you participate in on a weekly basis ( e.g. play tennis twice per week, run 2-5 miles per week, play soccer 2 nights per week, etc.)?

4. On average, how many hours per week do you participate in exercise/physical activity (activities that you feel gets your heart beating fairly fast)?

5. Have you ever experienced any pain in the Achilles tendon region (the Achilles tendon is the large tendon that connects the muscles on the back of your lower leg to your heel bone)?
If yes, please answer the following questions:

a. Where was the pain located along the tendon (e.g. closer to the heel bone, to the calf muscle, or in between)?
b. What physical activities were you participating in days/weeks/months prior to the injury?
c. What were you doing at the time of injury (e.g. stepped off the curb and felt a pain in the back of my leg; pain came on gradually over time being more severe after resting)?
d. How long ago did the injury occur?
e. How long did the injury last?
f. What did you do to treat the injury?

6. If I decide to pursue research in this area, then would you be interested in participating in a research study that would involve simple ankle strength measurements and ultrasound imaging of your Achilles tendon on 2-3 separate occasions? Each testing session would be conducted at the UC Davis Human Performance Laboratory and would take approximately 1 hour.
If yes, then please provide let me know how you would prefer to be contacted (e.g. email, phone, etc.).

Thanks for taking the time to help me with this project. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by email or phone.

Katie Antle
530-754-7921
kaantle@gmail.com