Prevalence of physiological and pathological electrocardiographic findings by gender and age in a population of amateur athletes

Abstract

The specificity of the electrocardiogram as a diagnostic method for causes of sudden cardiac death in athletes depends on the criteria used to distinguish between physiological and pathological alterations. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence in athletes of physiological and pathological electrocardiographic findings, and to evaluate gender and age as independent predictor variables.
Methods: 834 athletes were evaluated. The Seattle Criteria were used to classify the electrocardiographic findings into physiological and pathological. We compared the prevalence of electrocardiograms without alterations with the prevalence of electrocardiograms with physiological findings; we also compared the prevalence of electrocardiograms with pathological findings with the prevalence of the set of electrocardiograms without alterations and with physiological findings. Results: The prevalence of electrocardiograms with physiological findings was 32.5%, significantly higher in men than in women (OR 1.57; CI 1.13 to 2.19; p<0.007 adjusted for age) and age group 16 to 34 years old, when contrasted with the prevalence of electrocardiograms without alterations and cases of pathological electrocardiograms was discarded. The prevalence of electrocardiograms with pathological findings is 3.5%, there being no significant difference between genders or among age groups when contrasted with the set of electrocardiograms with no alterations and with physiological findings. Conclusions: The male gender is moderately associated with the presence of physiological findings, at the expense of the age group of 16-34 years old. Neither gender nor age are independent predictors of the presence of pathological findings.