Injuries and illness of athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic summer games visiting outside facilities

This study aimed to identify the reasons for transferring athletes to local medical facilities during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.Data on 567 injuries and other illnesses of athletes treated at the on-site clinics were collected from the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee.Of these,84 athletes who required outpatient care during the Games were registered for this survey.During the Olympic and Paralympic Games,66(8.3/1000)and 18(7.2/1000)athletes,respectively,consulted external medical facilities.In the Olympic Games,the reasons for these visits included 48 cases(72.7%)of injuries,13(19.7%)cases of illnesses,and 5(7.6%)cases of heat stroke illness(HSI).Of these patients,56(84.9%)were treated as outpatients and 10(15.1%)were hospitalized,while three of these patients required hospitalization for>7 days.On the other hand,in the Paralympics Games,there were 7(38.8%)cases of injuries,9(50.0%)other illnesses,1(5.6%)case of HSI,and 1(5.6%)other cases,of which 11(61.1%)were treated as outpatients and 7(38.9%)were hospitalized,but none was hospitalized for>7 days.Injuries accounted for 70%of the total cases at the 2021 Olympic Games,but only three(0.05%)were severe cases that required hospitalization for more than 1 week.In contrast,in the Paralympic Games,other illnesses accounted for approximately half of the total cases.This study provides details on the extent of injuries and other illnesses that were transferred to outside facilities,which has not been documented in previous games.

Analysis of Sudden Cardiac Arrest during Marathon Races in Japan

Objective: Increased number of runners in Japan has been one reason for increasing the risk of cardiac arrest during marathon races. The purpose of the study was to examine 1) the incidence of cardiac arrest during marathon races held in the past in Japan, 2) the characteristics of runners with cardiac arrest, 3) the effectiveness of public access defibrillation (PAD) use for cardiac arrest cases. Methods: We examined the incidence of the cardiac arrest during marathon races in Japan from the medical records of marathon races that Kokushikan University provided in the past five years. Also, we analyzed cardiac arrests occurred in Japan in the past 15 years between 1999 and 2013. Results: The incidence rate of cardiac arrest was 2.18 per 100,000 participants. As shown in Table 1, the incidence rates were 2.00 per 100,000 participants in full marathon and 2.50 per 100,000 participants in half-marathon. A total of 63 cardiac arrests occurred in the past 15 years, and the number of incidents has been increasing every year. Among 63 cardiac arrest cases, the mean age was 45.3 ± 14.9 years old and 93.7% (59/63 cases) were in males. Eighty-three percentage of cardiac arrest cases applied AED (20/24 cases) were the shockable rhythm. In terms of the survival rate, there was a statistically significant difference between the cases where both bystander CPR and PAD were delivered and the cases where the only bystander CPR took place without PAD (95.0% vs. 47.1%;p Conclusions: Performing PAD on the scene during marathon races could be expected to be higher in the survival rate. Creating a medical support system is needed to handle sudden cardiac arrest rapidly in order to perform early bystander CPR and PAD.

Sport level and sex differences in sport-related concussion among Japanese collegiate athletes:Epidemiology,knowledge,reporting behaviors,and reported symptoms

This study investigated the incidence of sport-related concussion(SRC)in sports,effect of athlete knowledge on reporting behavior differences between collegiate and non-collegiate athletes,and differences in SRC symptoms between sexes and level of participation.In this cross-sectional survey,1344 Japanese collegiate and non-collegiate athletes from a single institute were analyzed.Using a web-based survey,demographics,general SRC,knowledge of SRC,the most recent SRC reporting behaviors,and symptom presentation were examined.The prevalence of SRC during the academic year 2016-2017 was 2.68(95%confidence interval[CI]:1.88-3.69)across all sports.The prevalence of SRC was 33.3(95%CI:17.96-51.83)in rugby union and 8.33(95%CI:1.03-27.00)in women's soccer.The prevalence of SRC in males(3.47[95%CI:2.38-4.86]was 3.65 times higher than that in females(0.95[95%CI:0.26-2.41]).In total,the mean total score of knowledge was 5.30(4.2)across 25 questions;dizziness was the most well-known symptom(867/1344,64.5%),followed by headache(59.3%).Being more emotional(44/1345,3.3%)was the least frequently known symptom.Level of participation did not affect scores(5.16[3.96]vs.5.52[4.54];p=0.131).All 87 disclosing participants experienced drowsiness and irritability and felt more emotional.In terms of sex and participant level,no significant differences were found in any symptoms.This study found very low rates of concussion education in Japan.Dissemination of concussion education is essential in the future to recognize concussion earlier and prevent severe concussive injury.