Parameters Associated with Abnormal Cardiac Conditions in Adolescent Athletes: Analysis using Simon’s Heart Heartbytes Registry

PURPOSE: To determine clinical parameters that are related to abnormal cardiac conditions in the physically active youth. METHODS: We used the Simon’s Heart Heartbytes National Youth Cardiac Registry to collect cardiac related data from middle and high school athletes in southeastern Pennsylvania. We collected age, race/ethnicity, symptoms suggestive of abnormal cardiac conditions, past medical history, medication use, caffeine intake and family history. We also obtained height, weight, blood pressure, and cardiac murmur findings, as well as an ECG in all individuals. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify an independent association between abnormal cardiac symptoms and potential indicators (all collected variables). The odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (95% CI), and p-values were used as critical statistical values. RESULTS: There were a total of 887 athletes (543 males and 344 females, age=16.9±2.1, height=166.9±11.4, weight=62.0±16.0). There was an independent association between abnormal symptoms and presence of significant past medical history (OR: 4.75, 95%CI: 3.17, 7.10, p=0.001) and prescribed medication use (OR: 1.71, 95%CI: 1.04, 2.79, p=0.034). Although the association between the presence of abnormal symptoms and African-American race (OR:2.01, 95%CI: 0.95, 4.28, p=0.069) and average daily consumption of at least 2 types of caffeine drinks (soda, energy drinks, tea, and coffee) (OR:2.11, 95%CI: 0.87, 5.07, p=0.097) were not significant, there was a trend to reach the a priori significance level. CONCLUSIONS: The current study identified several clinical parameters that are associated with symptoms suggestive of abnormal cardiac conditions. Further research needs to be done on a larger scale to better sort out the clinical history that may contribute to false positives in an effort to reduce false positives at heart screenings.