Internet Survey: Health Screening in Sports

While cardiovascular screening protocols exist, they have been focused on teenaged and college aged athletes versus adult athletes. To assess community awareness of health screening as related to adult athletes, we have created an internet questionnaire (QN). The survey was posted through social media (e.g. Facebook, Reddit, Flotrack and Active), for 11 months, that queried sports history, medical history, and symptoms while playing sports. A total of 3,750 respondents (R) answered the questionnaire, 2,776 male and 974 female. Age range: 18-83 yrs, avg: 33.7±11.22 yrs, median: 31 yrs. Seventy four per cent of R (2,775/3,750) reported having at least one of the following symptoms while playing sports: dizziness, blacking/passing out, racing heartbeat, or chest pain, and 13.5% (505/3,750) of R reported two or more. 62.3% (1,730/2,775) did not recall having symptoms. This underreporting was a result of "no one asking" 49.5% (857/1,730); "not answering after being asked" 28.2% (488/1,730), and "not telling the truth" 22.2% (384/1,730). Of interest, 97.1% (3,642/3,750) want a screening QN; 95.8% (3,592/3,750) want pre-screening by an MD. Prior to sports, only 22.9% (857/3,750) were required to answer a QN vs 38.0% (1,424/3,750) had a physical exam (PE); 14.9% (560/3,750) of individuals had both PE and QN. We conclude that adult participants in sports commonly experience symptoms but do not report them. Nearly all respondents favor participating in a screening questionnaire that would assess for cardiovascular problems.