Key result
Pre-participation cardiac screening in Middle Eastern and African male competitive athletes revealed a prevalence of sudden cardiac death-related abnormalities ranging from 0.47% to 4.29%.
Why the study?
Literature regarding abnormalities predisposing to SCD in young Middle Eastern and African competitive athletes and optimal cardiac pre-participation screening methods required review.
What is the prevalence of cardiac abnormalities predisposing to sudden cardiac death in young Middle Eastern and African competitive athletes, and how effective are current screening methods?
Systematic Review (n=4,151)
What is the prevalence of cardiac abnormalities predisposing to sudden cardiac death in young Middle Eastern and African competitive athletes, and how effective are current screening methods?
There is a critical need to develop ethnicity-specific cardiac pre-participation screening programs for Arab and African athletes to mitigate the risk of sudden cardiac death and reduce false-positive rates.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Supports ethnicity-specific pre-participation screening in Arab and African male athletes; extends global prevalence estimates to these populations.
OBJECTIVE: The study aims to review the literature regarding abnormalities predisposing to Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) in young Middle Eastern and African competitive athletes between the years 2009-2019 and aims to assess cardiac pre-participation screening methods. METHODS: A PubMed search was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The search targeted articles that reported the prevalence of cardiac abnormalities found in Middle Eastern and African athletes, and it also focused on comparing cardiac screening methods for assessment of athletes. RESULTS: our studies fell within the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Results identified a shortage in the literature regarding prevalence rates of SCD in the Middle East and Africa. Additionally, there seems to be a lack of ethnicity-specific cardiac pre-participation screening programs in the region. Nevertheless, the prevalence of SCD-related abnormalities (HCM, ARVC, etc …) ranged from 0.47 to 4.29%. Included studies conveyed only male athletes with no reports on the female athletic population. CONCLUSION: The present study highlights a need to develop an efficient cardiac pre-participation screening program specific to Arab and African athletes due to their high false-positive rates in contrast to Caucasian athletes. Significant evidence proves that an adequate cardiac screening program can prevent SCD in young competitive athletes. Therefore, it is imperative that future studies highlight the prevalence of abnormalities directly related to SCD in order to create a valid screening program that can be implemented in the region to mitigate the risk of shocking events.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Hallak et al. (2020) conducted a systematic review in Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) (n=4,151). Pre-participation cardiac screening was evaluated on Prevalence of SCD-related abnormalities (e.g., HCM, ARVC, WPW, Long QT syndrome). Pre-participation cardiac screening in Middle Eastern and African male competitive athletes revealed a prevalence of sudden cardiac death-related abnormalities ranging from 0.47% to 4.29%.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: