J Sport Rehabil. 2022 Feb 1;31(2):218-223. doi: 10.1123/jsr.2021-0028. Epub 2021 Sep 25.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had catastrophic impact on a global scale, affecting people from all walks of life including elite athletes.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reported rates of return to play (RTP) in conjunction with the expert-derived guidelines previously recommended to enable safe RTP post COVID-19 infection.
Two independent reviewers searched the literature based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, utilizing the MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus databases. Only studies that reported rates of RTP and/or recommended guidelines for safe RTP were included.
Overall, 17 studies (3 level III and 14 level V) were included. A total of 3 studies reported rates of RTP in a total of 1255 athletes and 623 officials; 72 (30 symptomatic) were infected with COVID-19, 100% of whom were able to RTP post COVID-19 infection. Of the 14 studies recommending guidelines for safe RTP, 3 and 9 studies recommended 7 and 14 days of rest in isolation respectively for asymptomatic patients with COVID-19 infection, prior to safe RTP. In contrast, 7 studies recommended 3 to 6 months of rest (following 14 d isolation) in cases of COVID-19-induced myocarditis as a safe timeframe for safe RTP. Of the 11 studies reporting on whether blanket testing prior to RTP was recommended, only 7 studies recommended a negative test result as mandatory prior to RTP for athletes previously infected with COVID-19.
Although excellent rates of RTP have been reported for elite athletes post COVID-19 infection, discrepancies in recommended rest periods, requirement for mandatory negative test results, and the magnitude of screening investigations required continue to exist in the literature, with a need for further standardized international guidelines required in future.
Level V; systematic review of all forms of evidence.
COVID-19 大流行在全球范围内造成了灾难性的影响，影响到包括精英运动员在内的各行各业的人。
本研究的目的是评估报告的重返赛场率（RTP），并结合先前推荐的专家制定的指南，以实现 COVID-19 感染后安全的 RTP。
两名独立审查员根据系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目指南，利用 MEDLINE、Embase 和 Scopus 数据库搜索文献。仅纳入报告 RTP 率和/或推荐安全 RTP 指南的研究。
共纳入 17 项研究（3 项 III 级和 14 项 V 级）。共有 3 项研究报告了总共 1255 名运动员和 623 名官员的 RTP 率；72 名（30 名有症状）感染了 COVID-19，100%的人在 COVID-19 感染后能够重返赛场。在 14 项推荐安全 RTP 指南的研究中，有 3 项和 9 项研究分别建议无症状 COVID-19 感染患者在安全 RTP 前分别隔离 7 天和 14 天，有 7 项研究建议 COVID-19 引起心肌炎的患者在安全 RTP 前休息 3 至 6 个月。在报告是否建议在 RTP 前进行全面检测的 11 项研究中，只有 7 项研究建议在 COVID-19 感染的运动员 RTP 前必须有阴性检测结果。
尽管在 COVID-19 感染后，精英运动员的 RTP 率非常高，但在建议的休息期、强制性阴性检测结果的要求以及所需的筛查调查规模方面，文献中仍存在差异，未来需要制定进一步的标准化国际指南。
V 级；对所有形式证据的系统评价。
