Preparticipation Cardiovascular Screening: An Infrastructure Assessment in Collegiate Athletics.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the available infrastructure for secondary testing after preparticipation cardiovascular screening of collegiate athletes.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic programs PARTICIPANTS:: Team physicians.

INTERVENTIONS

Online survey distributed by the NCAA and American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Availability of secondary cardiovascular diagnostic testing and services.

RESULTS

Team physicians from 235 schools completed the assessment, representing 21% of all NCAA schools. Ninety (38.3%) NCAA team physicians reported screening athletes using electrocardiogram (ECG). Division I schools were more likely than Division II and III schools to perform both screening ECG (RR, 2.38, P < 0.0001) and echocardiogram (RR, 2.83, P = 0.01). More than 97% of schools had access to resting echocardiogram, stress ECG/echocardiogram, and Holter monitoring within 25 miles with no significant variability between divisions, regions, or size of undergraduate student body. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and electrophysiology studies were available within 25 miles of more than 80% of schools, and genetics testing was available within 25 miles for 64.8%.

CONCLUSIONS

Secondary testing for cardiovascular abnormalities seems to be readily available for NCAA athletes, regardless of division, region, or school size.