Smith, ChanelSewry, Nicola AnnNolte, KimSwanevelder, SonjaEngelke, NinaVan Kamp, CalvinJordaan, EsmeSchwellnus, Martin Peter2024-02-052024Smith, C., Sewry, N., Nolte, K., et al. 2024, 'Do five screening tools identify the same number of runners who require pre-exercise medical clearance? SAFER XXXIV', Physician and Sportsmedicine, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 77-83, doi : 10.1080/00913847.2023.2176161.0091-3847 (print)2326-3660 (online)10.1080/00913847.2023.2176161http://hdl.handle.net/2263/94296OBJECTIVES : Currently, there are five international screening tools that are recommended to identify individuals who require pre-exercise medical clearance to reduce the risk of medical encounters during exercise. Therefore, the aim was to determine the percentage of race entrants who are advised to obtain pre-exercise medical clearance and the observed agreement between these five different international pre-exercise medical screening tools. METHODS : In all, 76,654 race entrants from the Two Oceans Marathon (2012–2015) that completed an online pre-race screening questionnaire. Five pre-exercise medical screening tools (American Heart Association (AHA), pre-2015 American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM), post-2015 ACSM, Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q), and the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR)) were retrospectively applied to all participants. The % (95%CI) race entrants requiring medical clearance identified by each tool and the observed agreement between tools (%) was determined. RESULTS : The % entrants requiring medical clearance varied from 6.7% to 33.9% between the five tools: EACPR (33.9%; 33.5–34.3); pre-2015 ACSM (33.9%; 33.5–34.3); PAR-Q (23.2%; 22.9–23.6); AHA (10.0%; 9.7–10.2); post-2015 ACSM (6.7%; 6.5–6.9). The observed agreement was highest between the pre-2015 ACSM and EACPR (35.4%), for pre-2015 ACSM and PAR-Q (24.8%), PAR-Q and EACPR (24.8%), and lowest between the post-2015 ACSM and AHA (4.1%). CONCLUSION : The percentage of race entrants identified to seek medical clearance (and observed agreement) varied considerably between pre-exercise medical screening tools. Further research should determine which tool has the best predictive ability in identifying those at higher risk of medical encounters during exercise.en© 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an electronic version of an article published in Physician and Sports medicine, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 77-83, 2024, doi : 10.1080/00913847.2023.2176161. Physician and Sports medicine is available online at : http://www.tandfonline.comloi/tphy20.Pre-exercise medical screeningPre-exercise medical clearanceEndurance athletesMedical encounters (MEs)SDG-03: Good health and well-beingPostprint Article