ACSM, AHA recommend cardiovascular screenings
Fitness center members targeted
A group jointly sponsored by the Indianapolis-based American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association in Dallas, has recommended that all new and prospective users of fitness facilities be given a cardiovascular screening. The recommendation was part of a joint statement released at the ACSM's annual meeting in July.
"This position statement suggests ways to add to the safety and well-being of fitness facility clients," says Gary Balady, MD, who chaired the writing group. "All facilities offering exercise equipment or services should conduct cardiovascular screening of all new members and/or prospective users."
Balady offers the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) as a starting point. Going a step further, another self-administered questionnaire - this one patterned after one developed by the Wisconsin affiliate of the AHA - asks questions about history, symptoms, and risk factors.
The health appraisal questionnaires should be interpreted by qualified staff members, wrote the group; people at higher risk of exercise-induced cardiac events can (if necessary) be referred for medical assessment or directed to seek exercise facilities that provide appropriate levels of staff supervision.
A sample referral form and authorization for release of medical information are provided in the position statement. Further, participants are divided into four categories according to their cardiac risk factors. Five progressively clinical types of facility are identified by qualified personnel present, emergency plan, and equipment on hand.
People with known cardiovascular disease or those at risk for cardiac complications should seek fitness centers with at least a medical liaison on site, says the report. The person who requires supervised cardiac rehabilitation should exercise in a facility equipped according to the recommendations of the AHA, ACSM, and the American College of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. More specific concerns are also addressed in the joint statement.
[For more information and/or a copy of the position statement, contact: Gail N. Hunt, Public Information Manager, American College of Sports Medicine, 401 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, IN 46202-3233. Telephone: (317) 637-9200. Fax: (317) 634-7817.]
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