UK Sports Clubs Failing to Run Comprehensive Health Checks on Professional Players

by Sreeraman on  July 04, 2007 at 11:54 AM General Health News
  •   Print
  •   Share
  •   Comments
  •  Text 
UK Sports Clubs Failing to Run Comprehensive Health Checks on Professional Players
Professional sports clubs do not run regular comprehensive health checks on their players, finds research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The findings are based on survey results from 65 professional clubs, covering football (premiership and championship), rugby (union and league), and County cricket.

Unlike some types of employment, sports clubs are not legally obliged as employers to carry out health checks on their players, despite the higher potential risks of injury.

But it is recommended that these checks should be carried out before employment, before the season starts, and after any injury (preparticipation medical evaluation).

The recommendations stipulate that the checks should include examinations of cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, and musculoskeletal systems, and that a general medical history should be taken.

The results from this study showed that almost nine out of 10 of the professional football clubs and over half of rugby union premiership clubs surveyed took pre-employment medical histories but less than half of the cricket and rugby union division 1 clubs did so.

Fewer rugby union and cricket clubs recorded before employment whether a player had a history of concussion than did football clubs.

While most football and rugby union clubs carried out cardiovascular and neurological assessments of players before employment, fewer than one in four clubs, overall, carried out neurological assessments at this stage.

And fewer than 40% of rugby union division 1 clubs and cricket clubs screened players for cardiovascular health before employment, despite the risks of sudden death among players of high intensity sports who have undiagnosed heart conditions.

Only rugby league and rugby union clubs carried out neurological tests before the season started.

Lack of resources is often cited as a reason for not carrying out health checks of athletes, but the authors conclude that this is not a sustainable argument within professional sport.

Source-BMJ
LIN/M

 Email Email   RSS Feeds RSS Feeds   Print this page Print   Save this page Save   Link Link   Syndicate Syndicate   Comments Comments   Bookmark and Share
 
Comment & Contribute
Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.
* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters

Notify me when reply is posted
I agree to the terms and conditions
  
If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.
X

Medwonders Health Network

  • Health News Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
News Archive
Date :
Category :
Keyword :
  • News Quick Links
News Central Health Watch
Latest Health News Health In Focus
News Category (500+) Breaking Health News
Popular News Celebrating Life
Health News and Press Release Medindia - Exclusive
News Photo Gallery India Special
News Video Gallery Lifestyle and Wellness
News From Other Resources
News Categories:  
Teen's Health Center

General News

» Research on Neglected Diseases to Take Priority Place for WHO » Medical Innovation: Hypodermic Needles for Injection Could Soon be History
» Written Communication Contains Higher Frequency of Positive Words » Canadian Research Urges US and Europe to Implement New System for Regulating Probiotics
» To Err Appeals Cruder Judgment for Male Bosses Than Women » Emotionally Intelligent Easily Conned
» Ukraine Passes Law To Ban Smoking in Public Places » Eating 'Bushmeat' Could Lead to Next HIV Pandemic
Read More >>