Objective. - The group of consensus of the French Society of Sport Medicine prepared a questionnaire in order to detect early stage of overtraining. This questionnaire includes 54 items which the subjects have to answer by "yes" or by "not". A score is then established by summing the "yes". Taking into account the formulation of the questions, this score will increase with the training load. The aim of our study is to propose a score of overtraining, and also to highlight the importance of some items or groups of items. Methods. - Our population consisted of French sportsmen of both sexes, from different geographical origins, age, sporting practice and level. A multicentric analysis was carried out on the basis of 1984 collected questionnaires. We analysed the evolution of the percentage of subjects, the weight of various parameters (age, overtraining) and the evolution of the frequency of each item as a function of the score. Results. - A score of 20 was proposed as an overtraining state threshold, which has to be confirmed on the basis of correlations with biological indices, in particular with a state of clinically established overtraining. Sixteen items present a linear evolution traducing an increase of tiredness according to the overload. Six items have a logarithmic increase, traducing a kind of "background noise". The others items (N = 32) presenting a non-linear increase are sign of a decompensation phenomenon. Conclusion. - This analysis by item make possible an improve of the questionnaire, by selecting items groups which may give an orientation on the type of tiredness. It also confirms the usefulness of this questionnaire as a tool for the follow-up of the training state of sportsmen, a score equal to or higher than 20 constituting the overtraining threshold.
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