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Female athlete triad screening in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletes: is the
Tara Mencias1, Megan Noon, Anne Z Hoch
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Women's Sports Medicine Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA.
Objective:
To evaluate the screening practices and preparticipation evaluation (PPE) forms used to identify college athletes at risk for the female athlete triad (triad).
Design:
Phone and/or e-mail survey.
Setting:
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I universities.
Participants:
All 347 NCAA Division I universities were invited to participate in a survey, with 257 participating in the survey (74%) and 287 forms collected (83%).
Main Outcome Measures:
Information about the nature of the PPE was requested from team physicians and certified athletic trainers during a phone or e-mail survey. In addition, a copy of their PPE form was requested to evaluate for inclusion of the 12 items recommended by the Female Athlete Triad Coalition for primary screening for the triad.
Results:
All 257 universities (100%) required a PPE for incoming athletes; however, only 83 universities (32%) required an annual PPE for returning athletes. Screening was performed on campus at 218 universities (85%). Eleven universities (4%) were using the recently updated fourth edition PPE. Only 25 universities (9%) had 9 or more of the 12 recommended items included in their forms, whereas 127 universities (44%) included 4 or less items. Relevant items that were omitted from more than 40% of forms included losing weight to meet the image requirements of a sport; using vomiting, diuretics, and/or laxatives to lose weight; and the number of menses experienced in the past 12 months.
Conclusions:
The current PPE forms used by NCAA Division I universities may not effectively screen for the triad.
