Student athlete screens may not be helpful

STANFORD, Calif., July 14 (UPI) -- Mandatory electrocardiogram screenings before student sports participation may not be as effective and accurate as some expect, U.S. researchers say.

Dr. Allison Hill and colleagues at Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Pediatric Cardiology Associates asked 53 pediatric cardiologists were asked to interpret 18 electrocardiogram screenings, eight from children with healthy hearts and 10 from children with heart conditions that could lead to sudden cardiac death.

The accuracy of the cardiologists' interpretations was fairly low; the average score for overall accuracy was 67 percent, Hill says.

The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found the cardiologists correctly restricted sport participation 81 percent of the time for children with heart conditions and they correctly allowed participation 74 percent of the time for children with healthy hearts.

"One problem with interpreting athletes' electrocardiogram screenings is that, as athletes' hearts grow stronger, they may get somewhat larger and beat more slowly," Hill says in a statement. "Although these changes are normal for a well-trained athlete, they can look similar on electrocardiogram screenings scans to defects that predispose people to sudden cardiac death."

The researchers suggest that because electrocardiogram screenings are not always accurate and can be difficult to interpret, they may not be the perfect test for pre-screening athletes for heart conditions.