Perfil Clínico e Hábitos Desportivos de Atletas Veteranos de Trail Running de Longas Distâncias: Importância do Exame-Médico Desportivo

Abstract

Introduction: Middle-long distance running sports have been gaining popularity, especially among veteran athletes, and their regular clinical assessment and the Sports Medical Examination (SME) are essential for risk stratification. Objectives: To characterize the sport practice of veteran middle long distance running athletes in Portugal; to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors; to know the assessment methodology and the clinical follow-up performed. Methods and Results: A questionnaire was designed and sent to athletes who have participated in events of the Portuguese Trail Running Association. Demographic, exercise, and clinical characteristics and the clinical evaluation methodology were analyzed. A total of 455 athletes were included (81.5% men; 45.96.8 years), 49% federated, with 7±4 hours of weekly training, 12.3% of which were ultraendurance trail runners. Most (62.3%) denied CV risk factors, but 14.1% had at least one (7.7% dyslipidaemia; 6.2% smoking) and 6.6% known CV disease. Less than half (46.8%) had up-to-date SME for the current season, and in 41.8% the complementary exams were prescribed by General and Family Medicine physicians, in 29.4% Sports Medicine and 20.7% Cardiology. The vast majority of athletes (81.0%) provided the SME on their own initiative, 59% reported being regularly followed by a doctor, but 47.4% of these did not present an updated SME. Conclusion: The percentage of veteran middle-long distance running athletes with up-to-date SME and regular medical evaluations is far from ideal. It is important to alert to the importance of clinical assessment of extreme exercise athletes for its ability in early detection of exercise-induced pathological adaptations and CV diseases that may lead to serious clinical complications.