[Description of morbidity notified in the epidemiologic surveillance system of the XVII Central American and Caribbean Sport Games, Puerto Rico, 1993].

The objective of the epidemiological surveillance system for the XVII Central American and Caribbean Sports Games in 1993 in Puerto Rico was to estimate the morbidity related to infectious diseases and sports injuries during the competitions. In the village hospital a total of 794 medical consultations were reported; 57.7% of the patients were athletes. Among athletes, the rate of consultation was 10.4 for every 100 participants. The consultations were more frequent in males (535, 67.4%). The analysis by country of origin revealed that the athletes from Guatemala (42, 9.2%) and Jamaica (35, 7.6%) used the services more frequently. The incidence of consultations by sport was higher in field hockey (47, 10.3%), followed by athletics (46, 10%), and softball (36, 7.9%). The most frequent diagnoses were injuries--302, 38.04%; of these 229 (75.8%) were athletes--,conditions of the respiratory system (180, 22.67%), problems of the skin and mucous membranes (85, 10.71%), and problems of the gastrointestinal tract (56, 7.05%). The severity of the majority of the conditions was mild and required primary care health professionals.