Electrocardiogram and pre-sport screening in children

Introduction: there is consensus on the need to perform pre-sport screening, although with enormous differences in terms of protocols. The objective of our study is to know the status of pre-sport screenings in children, to know the prevalence of cardiovascular abnormalities and to assess the usefulness of the electrocardiogram (ECG).

Patients and methods: descriptive cross-sectional study. For two years, the medical screening proposed by the Clinical Guide for Cardiovascular Evaluation prior to sports practice in pediatrics was carried out in the check-ups of children older than 6 years, including anamnesis, physical examination and electrocardiogram.

Results: 691 children were included. 62.5% did extracurricular sports with a median of 3 hours per week (2-4.5). 52.2% of the children were federated. There are differences in the hours of sports practice and age between federated and non-federated children (p <0.001). In federated, recognition was performed in 68.1% and ECG in 19%, with significant differences between the different types of sports (p <0.001). 13% of the children studied had a family history of heart disease. 3.5% of the ECGs performed were pathological, requiring evaluation by pediatric cardiology. 6.6% of the children with a family history of heart disease and 3% of the children without a history required cardiac follow-up.

Conclusions: ECG is not included in most of the sports examinations in our environment. Investigating family history of heart disease is important.