Asthma in United States Olympic athletes who participated in the 1996 Summer Games☆,☆☆,★
Section snippets
METHODS
All athletes who represented the US at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta were required to complete a medical history questionnaire that was designed by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Sports Medicine Division. Questionnaires were given to the athletes by USOC medical staff at team processing in Atlanta, Ga, within 2 weeks before participation in the Games. All US athletes completed and signed the questionnaire. USOC medical staff then reviewed all of the questions on each form
RESULTS
Six hundred ninety-nine athletes completed a medical history questionnaire; 662 were on the US Olympic Team, and 37 were alternates. Responses to the 16 allergic and respiratory disease questions are tabulated in Table I. About 11% indicated an allergy to some medication (question 1), and almost 8% reported an allergy to insects or foods (question 2). More than 15% of the athletes had been told that they had asthma (question 5). A history of chest tightness, wheezing, itchy eyes, and itching
DISCUSSION
We found that 117 (16.7%) of the 699 US athletes who participated in the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games had a history of asthma, took asthma medications, or both. Of these athletes, 107 (15.3%) answered yes to the question “Have you ever been told that you have (had) asthma or exercise-induced asthma?” on the medical history questionnaire, and 97 (13.9%) recorded taking asthma medications. We scored as positive for asthma any athlete who recorded having been told that he or she had asthma, listed
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Cited by (0)
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From a University of Iowa, Iowa City; and b United States Olympic Committee, Colorado Springs.
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Reprint requests: John M. Weiler, MD, T307GH, 200 Hawkins Dr, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
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0091-6749/98 $5.00 + 0 1/1/93901