title: Current Practices and Attitudes of Canadian Team Physicians Toward Cardiovascular Preparticipation Screening.
abstract: To determine the current cardiovascular preparticipation screening practices and attitudes of team physicians for Canadian University and Major Junior Hockey Athletes, a 13-question survey was distributed to lead physicians of each organization. The response rate was 47% (48% [27 of 56] for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport and 55% [11 of 20] for the Ontario Hockey League). Ninety-two percent of physicians reported some form of preparticipation screening, with 22% currently using 12-lead electrocardiogram. Substantial inter- and intraorganization variability existed. Physicians not performing electrocardiogram screening reported lack of evidence (45%) and lack of cost-effectiveness (28%) as their rationale. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate Canadian athletic screening practices, and highlights the need for national guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Nathaniel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moulson
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Taryn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Chris S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: amerschedule@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amer M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Johri
mesh_terms: D056352:Athletes; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000592:standards*; D010820:Physicians / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires