QUANTITATIVE ANALYSES OF THE ESC GUIDELINES ON SPORTS CARDIOLOGY AND EXERCISE

Abstract

Objective: Exercise and sports are important components of preventing/delaying the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) as evidenced by reduced all-cause morbidity and mortality. Because of that, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) published “2020 ESC Guidelines on sports cardiology and exercise in patients with cardiovascular disease” (GL-SCE) summarizing recommendations and supporting evidence to ‘prescribe’ various types of exercise and sports regimens that can be used to prevent, delay, or alleviate CVD. Thus we aimed to assess quantitatively the efficacy of the GL-SCE providing help in the sport- /exercise-related treatment decision-making in specific cardiovascular condition Design and method: An analytic study was conducted on the GL-SCE regarding the Classes of Recommendations (CLASS) and the Levels of Evidence (LEVEL) (n = 159). Then LEVEL areas under CLASS were calculated to form a Certainty Index (CI: -1 to +1). Results: The frequency of CLASS I and CLASS III was relatively high in GL-SCE (52.2%) and GL-CS) (in Clinical Settings: 50.7%). Yet, the most frequent LEVEL was C (41.2%–83.8%), indicating only a relatively low quality of scientific evidence in GL-SCE. The GL-SCE showed a relatively high CI (+0.57), 78.4% Certainty, and 21.6% Uncertainty. Conclusions: The GL-SCE provides substantial help in decision-making through the recommendations (CLASS), but the supporting evidence (LEVEL) in most cases is only lower quality, which is well reflected in the newly developed Certainty Index identifying issues that should be clarified and investigated in future studies.