English Abstract
Abstract:
Background: Sports-Related Sudden Cardiac Death (SSCD) is a leading cause of mortality in the athletic population. It is substantially higher in specific populations such as males, African-Americans, athletes, and people with genetic and familial factors. Cardiovascular pre-participation screening can be lifesaving. Locally, the total number of reported SSCD cases in Bahrain between 2009 and 2019 was 24 cases (less than 0.001% of the population). Nevertheless, there are no officially released data or standardized recommendations about the screening protocols in Bahrain or the local region to the best of the researcher's knowledge. Purpose: The current study aims to investigate the prevalence of SSCD risk factors in Bahrain through developing a self-administered screening tool. Methodology: It is a cross sectional descriptive study using an online self-administered questionnaire to explore the presence of SSCD related risk factors across the Bahraini population. The questionnaire is designed based on several international questionnaires related to pre-participation screening. It aims to identify risk factors, signs, and symptoms of SSCD, family history, drugs, and supplements. Moreover, it was validated by obtaining the opinions of six professional experts in the field. Moreover, a pilot study was performed on ten licensed physiotherapists. Results: 421 individuals participated in the questionnaire (age range 15-69), with most males (70%). About 83% of the participants did not perform any medical examinations before physical activity, 9% always experience tiredness and shortness of breath during exercise compared to their peers, 8% reported irregular heartbeats while exercising, 5% complained of lightheadedness during exercise, and 3% always have chest pain, tightness, and discomfort during exercise. Moreover, 21% of them reported a history of familial death due to a heart condition before 50, 24% have a family history of SCAs, 26% have a family history of cardiac conditions, and 25% have a family history of SSCD related signs and symptoms. Conclusion: Using the developed questionnaire was useful in measuring the prevalence of local SSCD risk factors which could be the first step in detection and prevention of SSCD.
