Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 25;21(1):97.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-021-02557-8.

Electrocardiographic pattern of apparently healthy African adolescent athletes in Nigeria

Ogochukwu J Sokunbi  1 , Christy A N Okoromah  2 , Ekanem N Ekure  2 , Olajide A Olawale  3 , Wuraola S Eke  4
Affiliations

Electrocardiographic pattern of apparently healthy African adolescent athletes in Nigeria

Ogochukwu J Sokunbi et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Strategies to prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) among young athletes have become topical worldwide and unrecognized cardiac pathology has been identified as a leading cause. Black ethnicity has been reported as an independent predictor of abnormal electrocardiography (ECG) findings among athletes and the frequency and significance of training-related ECG findings versus findings suggestive of an underlying pathology in the young African athletes is crucial.

Methods: This cross sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence and distribution of ECG patterns in young athletes and controls. A total of 360 participants (180 athletes and 180 controls) were recruited from six secondary schools in Lagos, Nigeria between November 2014 and July 2015. Evaluation included interviewer-administered questionnaires for relevant history, physical examination and resting 12 - lead ECG for each participant.

Results: Abnormal ECG patterns were found in 48.3% of athletes and 35.6% of controls. Training-related ECG findings occurred in 33.3% of athletes and 18.3% of controls. Athletes and controls had 7.7% prevalence of training un-related ECG patterns respectively. Left ventricular hypertrophy was the most common ECG finding among the athletes and male athletes had a higher prevalence of ECG abnormalities compared to females.

Conclusion: Adolescent athletes in Nigeria have a high prevalence of training-related ECG patterns and athletes and non-athletes alike have similar proportions of ECG findings suggestive of underlying structural heart disease. Cardiovascular evaluation including ECG should be performed for young athletes prior to competition at any level and should also be considered as part of pre-school entry assessment for all children.

Keywords: Adolescents; African; Electrocardiography; Nigeria; Young athletes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Bar chart showing the sporting disciplines represented by the athletes
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Bar chart showing proportions of abnormal ECG findings among athletes and controls
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Bar graph showing frequency of abnormal ECG findings based on sporting disciplines
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Corrado D, Pelliccia A, Bjornstad HH, et al. Cardiovascular pre-participation screening of young competitive athletes for prevention of sudden death: proposal for a common European protocol. Consensus Statement of the Study Group of Sport Cardiology of the Working Group of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology and the Working Group of Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur Heart J. 2005;26:516–524. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehi108. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Magalski A, Maron BJ, Main ML, et al. Relation of race to electrocardiographic patterns in elite American football players. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008;51:2250–2255. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2008.01.065. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wilson MG, Chatard JC, Carre F, et al. Prevalence of electrocardiographic abnormalities in west-Asian and African male athletes. Brit J Sport Med. 2012;46:341–347. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2010.082743. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Maron BJ, Haas TS, Doerer JJ, Thompson PD, Hodges JS. Comparison of U.S. and Italian experiences with sudden cardiac deaths in young competitive athletes and implications for preparticipation screening strategies. Am J Cardiol. 2009;104:276–280. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2009.03.037. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Baggish AL, Hutter AM, Jr, Wang F, et al. Cardiovascular screening in college athletes with and without electrocardiography: a cross-sectional study. Ann Intern Med. 2010;152:269–275. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-152-5-201003020-00004. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources