Key result
A survey of 107 athletic trainers found that 62.6% (95% CI 0.53-0.72) had not heard of the term 'shared decision-making' regarding sports participation for athletes with heart disease.
Why the study?
Although recommendations for athletic eligibility in heart disease have evolved toward shared decision-making, how well this paradigm is understood or integrated into the athletic trainer community is unknown.
Cross-Sectional (n=107)
Absolute Event Rate: 62.6% vs 37.4%
There is a significant knowledge gap among athletic trainers regarding shared decision-making for athletes with heart disease, highlighting a need for improved education and communication with sports cardiologists.
Unawareness of shared decision-making among athletic trainers may affect counseling; leaves open effects of targeted education.
OBJECTIVE: Recommendations for addressing sporting eligibility and disqualification in athletes with heart disease have traditionally used a paternalistic approach with cardiologists making a binary "yes-no" decision. This paradigm has recently evolved to a shared decision-making model recognizing and respecting the autonomy of the athlete while instituting safeguards to mitigate risk where possible. How well this paradigm is understood or has been integrated into the athletic trainer (AT) community is unknown. DESIGN: Athletic trainers from the Ohio High School Athletic Association were surveyed. RESULTS: Of 107 ATs who responded, we found that the majority had not heard of the term "shared decision-making" in the context of sporting participation [62.6%, confidence interval (CI) 0.53-0.72 vs 37.4%, CI 0.28-0.47]. Furthermore, we found large discrepancies as to how ATs would interpret and implement recommendations from cardiologists. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the need to educate and improve communication between AT, sports medicine physicians, and sports cardiologists if shared decision-making strategies are to become widely implemented.
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Phelan et al. (2021) conducted a cross-sectional in Knowledge of shared decision-making among athletic trainers (n=107). Survey on shared decision-making was evaluated on Prior knowledge of the term 'shared decision-making' in the context of sporting participation (95% CI 0.53-0.72). A survey of 107 athletic trainers found that 62.6% (95% CI 0.53-0.72) had not heard of the term 'shared decision-making' regarding sports participation for athletes with heart disease.
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