Cardiac, medical and nutrition-related history and symptoms among Paralympic and Olympic athletes
| N | Paralympic athletes N (%) | N | Olympic athletes N (%) | |||||
| Yes | No | Do not know | Yes | No | Do not know | |||
| Cardiac | ||||||||
| Have you ever been diagnosed with…? | ||||||||
| High blood pressure | 62 | 11 (18) | 51 (82) | 330 | 29 (9) | 301 (91) | ||
| Cardiac murmurs | 60 | 5 (8) | 55 (92) | 328 | 28 (9) | 300 (91) | ||
| Myocarditis | 57 | 1 (2) | 56 (98) | 328 | 16 (5) | 312 (95) | ||
| Valve disorder | 58 | 2 (3) | 56 (97) | 327 | 16 (5) | 311 (95) | ||
| Other cardiac disease | 42 | 1 (2) | 41 (98) | 190 | 14 (7) | 176 (93) | ||
| During the last 12 months, have you experienced…while training? | ||||||||
| Chest pain | 64 | 9 (14) | 55 (86) | 335 | 54 (16) | 281 (84) | ||
| Breathing difficulty | 61 | 4 (6) | 57 (94) | 326 | 45 (14) | 281 (86) | ||
| Palpitations/irregular heart rate | 64 | 10 (16) | 54 (86) | 340 | 59 (17) | 271 (83) | ||
| Syncope/near syncope | 91 | 5 (5) | 86 (95) | 407 | 49 (12) | 358 (88) | ||
| Medical | ||||||||
| During the last 6 months, have you had …? | ||||||||
| Upper respiratory tract infections | 117 | 47 (40) | 70 (60) | 428 | 188 (44) | 237 (55) | 3 (1) | |
| Lower respiratory tract infections | 54 | 7 (13) | 47 (87) | 101 | 9 (9) | 88 (88) | 3 (3) | |
| Urinary tract infections | 56 | 17 (30)* | 37 (66) | 2 (4) | 116 | 2 (2)† | 144 (98) | |
| Skin infections | 54 | 2 (4) | 51 (94) | 1 (2) | 101 | 8 (8) | 90 (88) | 3 (3) |
| Have you used antibiotics? | 55 | 16 (31) | 39 (69) | 70 | 8 (11) | 62 (89) | ||
| Have these infections affected your training? | 53 | 12 (23) | 41 (77) | 101 | 8 (8) | 89 (88) | 4 (4) | |
| Have you been hospitalised? | 55 | 9 (16) | 46 (84) | 101 | 5 (5) | 96 (95) | ||
| Do you have …? | ||||||||
| Asthma | 91 | 11 (12) | 79 (87) | 1 (1) | 276 | 68 (24) | 203 (74) | 5 (2) |
| Allergies | 86 | 39 (45) | 46 (53) | 1 (2) | 275 | 122 (44) | 144 (52) | 9 (3) |
| Have you been tested for allergies? | 38 | 18 (47) | 17 (45) | 3 (8) | 57 | 20 (35) | 31 (54) | 6 (11) |
| Do you currently experience…? | ||||||||
| Cough/phlegm following training/competition | 55 | 6 (11) | 46 (84) | 3 (5) | 101 | 41 (41) | 60 (59) | |
| Soreness in the chest during training/competition | 54 | 4 (7) | 48 (89) | 2 (4) | 101 | 18 (18) | 80 (79) | 3 (3) |
| Cough/phlegm/heavy breathing following high altitude training (>1000 m) | 55 | 1 (2) | 40 (73) | 14 (25) | 101 | 7 (7) | 86 (85) | 8 (8) |
| Spasms | 56 | 16 (29) | 40 (71) | – | – | – | – | |
| Pain (not further specified) | 54 | 25 (46) | 29 (54) | 100 | 20 (20) | 80 (80) | ||
| Urinary leakage | 35 | 15 (43) | 19 (54) | 1 (3) | 100 | 5 (5) | 88 (88) | 7 (7) |
| Nutrition/reds | ||||||||
| Do you have a relaxed relationship with food and body weight? | 119 | 100 (84) | 19 (16) | 423 | 388 (92) | 35 (8) | ||
| Have you periodically tried to increase or reduce your body weight? | 55 | 29 (53) | 26 (47) | 104 | 59 (57) | 45 (43) | ||
| Have you ever had to stop sport for nutritional reasons? | 118 | 6 (5) | 112 (95) | 442 | 21 (5) | 421 (95) | ||
| Are you currently being followed up by a dietician? | 37 | 15 (41) | 22 (59) | 102 | 32 (31) | 70 (69) | ||
The response rate for each question varied substantially through the four PHE cycles included.
*Eight female and nine male Paralympic athletes.
†One female and one male Olympic athlete.
PHE, periodic health evaluation.