Brief Communication: Cardiovascular Screening Practices of Major North American Professional Sports Teams
- Kevin M. Harris, MD;
- Austin Sponsel, BA;
- Adolph M. Hutter, Jr., MD; and
- Barry J. Maron, MD
- From Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Abstract
Background: Customary preparticipation screening strategies to detect heart disease in professional athletes have not been examined systematically.
Objective: To describe the current preparticipation cardiovascular screening process for professional athletes.
Design: Screening practices surveyed by questionnaire.
Setting: The 122 major professional sports teams in North America.
Participants: Athletic trainers and team physicians.
Measurements: League recommendations for history taking and physical examination and noninvasive testing were compared with screening recommendations from an American Heart Association consensus panel.
Results: All 122 teams have team physicians perform annual screening, including family and personal history taking (100%), physical examination (100%), and lipid panels (108 of 122 [89%]). Diagnostic testing by using electrocardiography was substantially more common (112 of 122 [92%]) than exercise testing and stress echocardiography (21 of 122 [17%]) or echocardiography (16 of 122 [13%]). League recommendations for history taking and physical examination were most complete for Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, meeting 10 of 12 and 8 of 12 American Heart Association recommendations, respectively. The most comprehensive cardiovascular screening using echocardiography is confined to selected, elite professional basketball players.
Limitations: Data were self-reported by team representatives.
Conclusions: A variety of nonstandardized preparticipation screening strategies for the detection of cardiovascular disease, varying considerably in scope, constitute customary practice among professional sports teams.
Article and Author Information
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Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest: Dr. Hutter is the team cardiologist for the Boston Bruins and the New England Patriots.
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Requests for Single Reprints: Kevin M. Harris, MD, Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, 920 East 28th Street, Suite 60, Minneapolis, MN 55407; e-mail, kharris{at}mplsheart.com.
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Current Author Addresses: Drs. Harris and Maron and Ms. Sponsel: Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, 920 East 28th Street, Suite 60, Minneapolis, MN 55407.
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Dr. Hutter: Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 5B, Boston, MA 02114.
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Author Contributions: Conception and design: K.M. Harris, A.M. Hutter Jr., B.J. Maron.
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Analysis and interpretation of the data: K.M. Harris, A. Sponsel, A.M. Hutter Jr., B.J. Maron.
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Drafting of the article: K.M. Harris, A. Sponsel, B.J. Maron.
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Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: K.M. Harris, A. Sponsel, A.M. Hutter Jr., B.J. Maron.
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Final approval of the article: K.M. Harris, A. Sponsel, A.M. Hutter Jr., B.J. Maron.
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Provision of study materials or patients: A.M. Hutter Jr.
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Administrative, technical, or logistic support: A. Sponsel, B.J. Maron.
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Collection and assembly of data: K.M. Harris, A. Sponsel, B.J. Maron.
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