- Title
- Incidence of acute respiratory illnesses in athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis by a subgroup of the IOC consensus on € acute respiratory illness in the athlete'
- Creator
- Derman, Wayne; Badenhorst, Marelise; Schwellnus, Martin; Eken, Maaike Maria; Ezeiza-Gomez, Josu; Fitzpatrick, Jane; Gleeson, Maree; Kunorozva, Lovemore; Mjosund, Katja; Mountjoy, Margo; Sewry, Nicola
- Relation
- British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 56, Issue 11, p. 630-640
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-104737
- Publisher
- BMJ Group
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Objective: To determine the incidence of acute respiratory illness (ARill) in athletes and by method of diagnosis, anatomical classification, ages, levels of performance and seasons. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources: Electronic databases: PubMed-Medline, EbscoHost and Web of Science. Eligibility Criteria: Original research articles published between January 1990 and July 2020 in English reporting the incidence of ARill in athletes, at any level of performance (elite/non-elite), aged 15–65 years. Results: Across all 124 studies (n=1 28 360 athletes), the incidence of ARill, estimated by dividing the number of cases by the total number of athlete days, was 4.7 (95% CI 3.9 to 5.7) per 1000 athlete days. In studies reporting acute respiratory infections (ARinf; suspected and confirmed) the incidence was 4.9 (95% CI 4.0 to 6.0), which was similar in studies reporting undiagnosed ARill (3.7; 95% CI 2.1 to 6.7). Incidences of 5.9 (95% CI 4.8 to 7.2) and 2.8 (95% CI 1.8 to 4.5) were found for studies reporting upper ARinf and general ARinf (upper or lower), respectively. The incidence of ARinf was similar across the different methods to diagnose ARinf. A higher incidence of ARinf was found in non-elite (8.7; 95% CI 6.1 to 12.5) vs elite athletes (4.2; 95% CI 3.3 to 5.3). Summary/conclusions: These findings suggest: (1) the incidence of ARill equates to approximately 4.7 per athlete per year; (2) the incidence of upper ARinf was significantly higher than general (upper/lower) ARinf; (3) elite athletes have a lower incidence of ARinf than non-elite athletes; (4) if pathogen identification is not available, physicians can confidently use validated questionnaires and checklists to screen athletes for suspected ARinf. For future studies, we recommend that a clear diagnosis of ARill is reported. PROSPERO: registration number CRD42020160472.
- Subject
- athletes; epidemiology; exercise; respiratory system; sports
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1485425
- Identifier
- uon:51588
- Identifier
- ISSN:0306-3674
- Rights
- x
- Language
- eng
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