School sports EKGs

There are lots of articles out there about schools that do heart screening events for student athletes. My school did EKGs for sports, but was usually part of the regular physical. Did anyone else get an EKG for their school sports team? Was it part of a larger physical or was it done just as a heart screening? And was it done at your school or elsewhere?

My school in the US never did. There's a big argument over the cost/benefit of EKGs in student athletes. They're mandatory in most of Europe though, from what I've read. I think there's a good chance that they will become more common in the near future. The more data that's collected on what EKG changes indicate abnormalities in which populations, the more efficient and accurate the procedure could become. I think routine echocardiograms would be great but might never get over the cost hurdle.

I was on the swim team in Junior high, high school and college. I never received an EKG as part of my physical. I think there are certainly benefits to having them done and I would hope the doctor would order one if he/she suspected anything.

Never had an ekg as part of my sports physical.

I don't think EKG's are very expensive. A nurse attaches a few electrodes and collects data for about a minute. Then a doc takes a quick look for something abnormal.

An EKG won't show a blood clot forming, or a cholesterol glob ready to break off. Those can kill you and an EKG doesn't help find them. If you have a symptom or a pre-exisiting condition, or are going to have surgery (e.g. anesthesia), then there is reason for an EKG.

We were not required to have them, as many would argue that cheerleading isn't a sport :/ However, I had one for my wisdom teeth surgery.

Gaymalephysicals: I have never heard of any student needing an EKG to perform school sports in France.

In France

- For school mandatory sports, there is no medical exam for participating, rather the converse. E.g. if the curriculum has long distance running (at least when I grew up, there was no choice of sports, you did what was in the curriculum), you do it unless you have a certificate from a physician saying that you cannot do it.

Perhaps there are additional examinations including EKG if you are a student in a special sports section (those that have a schedule organized so that they can do extra doses of sports), but this is a minority of students.

- For other sports, clubs almost always ask for some certificate, even if the sport poses no particular risks and is practiced outside of any competition. There is no need, in general, to go to a specialized sports physician, and no EKG is done. (For adults over a certain age I heard they do EKGs for sports that present some risk.)

One of my former doctors included an EKG as part of my annual exam a few years ago. It didn't happen every year, and it didn't happen the first time that I went there. I think it was the 2nd or 3rd time. He explained it as establishing a baseline.

The regular exam took place in his office. It was during the part where I was getting dressed where mentioned wanting to do a resting EKG. We walked back to an interior room with a nurse and she walked me through the rest of the process. It was just a resting measurement, with a few nodes placed on my chest with my shirt off.

During my next exam he showed me the results of the EKG and that was that.

You would think that an EKG for a sports physical would make a lot of sense. But it seems that most don't do one. Probably due to the time it would take and the cost.

Never had an EKG for a sports physical. However, I have had an EKG during almost every routine physical exam as an adult.

Had an ekg before surgery once, but other than that no.

After the sudden death of a high school athlete, the school started requiring an EKG for sports. It turns out that the causes of sudden death in young athletes is very rarely caused by a condition that would be detected by EKG. We it got them anyway back then. The machines back then were fairly large and not portable so you had to go to a special room to get the test.

Nope, EKGs were not done for our sports physicals in the 70s and 80s. I don't know how long EKGs have been around but the doctors for our sports physicals would sometimes have us jump in place in our underpants and then check our heartbeat. It is hilarious looking back to think about that one exam station in the gym where a group of boys would be jumping up and down in place for a full minute wearing nothing but their underpants and then the doctor would listen with his stethoscope for about two seconds to each boy's heart and move them on to the next exam station. My dad joked that we boys were lucky that we weren't in the military where the group exams were done in the nude as that sight of us jumping in the nude would have been even more funny. Not to mention that it would have been a certain way to have sore balls for the rest of the day.

I don't know how long EKGs have been around but the doctors for our sports physicals would sometimes have us jump in place in our underpants and then check our heartbeat.

We had similar experience at school David. I never got an ecg, at least at school, but the doctor would listen to my heart at rest and then get me to run on the spot fast for a minute (whilst barefoot, shirtless and only in my boxers) and then listen again. At least unlike your experience it was a bit more than a couple of seconds and they did listen all over properly both before and after!

It was definitely an old school approach before doctors started using EKGs. As a young adult, I went to a much older doctor who did the same thing. Had me jumping up and down in my underpants in the exam room for a full minute to get my heart rate up so that he could listen with his stethoscope. He sat there and timed me jumping and then had me stop while he listened front and back. He probably didn't own an EKG machine and wasn't going to buy one that late in his career when he had a plenty good way to check heart rates. I was surprised a few years after that to get an EKG in a doctor's office because I didn't know that was something that doctors had.

Not for a school sports exam but I have had an EKG before. I remember I was nervous because I always thought only people with heart problem got EKGs so I thought someone was wrong with my heart and the doctor wasn't telling me.

I guess it boils down to cost vs benefit. From what I understand an EKG can detect some but not all cardiac defects. I am no expert but it is what I have come to understand.

I had a rather comprehensive physical exam (not your ordinary school physical) a few weeks before my first year of high school. I was no young athlete by any stretch of the imagination but my doctor wanted to see how well my heart would respond to exertion. (Physical Education was mandatory 3 days per week) She administered The Harvard Step Test. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_step_test