Abstract:
BACKGROUND: The International Olympic Committee
(IOC) Medical and Scientific Commission has supported
collating and sharing evidence globally by developing sports
medicine consensus statements (‘Statements’'). Publishing
the Statements requires substantial resources that must
be balanced by use and impact on policy and practice. This
study aimed to gain a better understanding of awareness
and uptake of the Statements globally through a survey of
the National Olympic Committees (NOC), National Paralympic
Committees (NPC) and International Federations (IF).
METHOD: A cross-sectional survey of medical commission
representatives from NOCs/NPCs/IFs. A structured
questionnaire was distributed through the IOC head office,
informed by prior research. Questions comprised a mix
of closed and open-text responses with results presented
descriptively by organisation type and total.
RESULTS: 55 responses were included: 29 (52%) from NOC/
NPC representatives (response rate 14%) and 26 (47%) from
IF representatives (response rate 63%). All Statements had
been used by at least one respondent, with the Statement
addressing concussion ranked highest (used by 33/55).
The main barriers to use were financial limitations (n=21),
club/sport culture and behaviours (n=19) and lack of
understanding from coaches/team sport personnel (n=19).
Participants believed the Statements were a successful
strategy for improving athlete health (n=39/51 agree or
strongly agree).
CONCLUSION: There was clear support for the continued
development of sports medicine guidance, including in the
format of these Statements. To ensure Statements lead to
demonstrable health benefits for athletes, input from athletes,
coaches and supporting staff is needed, as well as clearer
identification of the purpose and audience of each topic
developed.
