Cardiovascular pre-participation screening does not distress professional football players

It has been debated whether cardiovascular screening of athletes creates negative psychological reactions in those being screened. Neither the athletes' level of distress towards, nor their opinion about screening has actually been examined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of distress among Norwegian elite male football players and their experiences of screening.

After screening, players completed a 10-item scale assessing their experience on a Likert scale. Their level of distress was measured with the intrusion sub-scale of Impact of Event Scale (IES) (7 items) on a six-point scale (grade 0-5). A sum score of ≥19 indicates a clinical stress problem. Twenty-five out of 28 teams, 441 of 591 players (75%, mean age 26 [18-39] years) consented to participate.

Sixty-four percent felt more confident when playing football and 88% were satisfied having completed the screening. The majority (77%) felt a need for the screening and 84% would strongly recommend it to others. Sixteen percent were afraid that the screening result might have consequences for their own health, and 13% were afraid of losing their license to play football. Less than 3% experienced distress (IES ≥ 19).

The majority of the players were satisfied having completed the screening, felt more confident and would recommend it to other players. Only a marginal proportion of the players were distressed by the screening, but were at least as likely to recommend it.