SMGT 520 - Applied Research Presentation Assignment

Running head: APPLIED RESEARCH REPORT 1

APPLIED RESEARCH REPORT 1

Applied Research Report: Sudden Death in Sports

Chet L. Walker

Liberty University

SMGT 520 – Understanding Research in Sport, Recreation, and Tourism

Dr. Jeffrey Briggs

27 June 2021

Abstract

The increased cases of the unexpected and sudden death of young and adult athletes in different sport-related activities are emotionally affecting incidents for society, family, and medical experts. Despite the sport participation practice being associated with improving life quality, physical fitness, and general health, increased volume and intensity of physical activity can contribute to cardiac arrest and unexpected death. In most cases, sudden death is primarily linked with cardiac conditions, particularly hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, along with risk aspects, such as genetics, family, health style, and environment. This applied research report presents that cardiac arrest is a common factor that leads to unexpected demise in sports-related activities. Applying practitioner and workplace research, knowledge transfer, and sports research skills can help prevent these cases.

Keywords: sport, physical activity, cardiac arrest, sudden death

Applied Research Report: Sudden Death in Sports

Introduction

In the past and recent years, the increased benefits of participating in sports have been vastly accepted by many health experts and professionals, including scientists and academics. However, despite the numerous benefits, participation in sports has not been without notable perils, making it necessary to understand these risks and establish safety platforms. One of the most significant problems and risks that athlete in various sports encounter involve sudden death linked to complications such as cardiac arrest. Many rehabilitation and emergency measures consider cardiac arrest one of the most devastating causes of a sudden demise in sporting activities. Sudden demise in sporting activities brings about different outcomes and consequences, including high mortality, morbidity, negative social, economic, and political effects. Nonetheless, the frequency of this problem differs and depends significantly on a population-based on age, training level, sex, and situation.

High demanding sports discipline activities involving a high volume of training intensity and competition contribute to increased sudden death frequency. As an illustration, sporting activities, such as rugby, American Football, marathons, and soccer, present high cases of sudden death. It is vital to understand that sports that involve a substantial physical effort may carry an adverse outcome on an individual's health status. According to Lippi et al. (2018), the high peril of sudden death due to high-intensity exercises makes it hard for professionals to recommend such exercises as options for better health. For this reason, sporting experts, including coaches, consider significant aspects before engaging with individuals in sports. Assessing sudden death in sports is important because it provides essential information concerning the causes of sudden death and what it takes to prevent this issue. In this sense, this applied research report focuses on sudden death in sports, with a specific connection with practitioner research, workplace research, knowledge transfer, integration of research skills in problem-solving, and application and future integration.

Discussion of Keywords

In this applied research report concerning sudden death in sports, defining keywords is important since it provides general information on what to expect in other parts of the report. To begin with, one significant keyword used in this report involves sudden death. In this context, sudden death refers to the death or demise of an individual that occurs unexpectedly. Secondly, another keyword used in this applied research report involves cardiac arrest, considered a core cause of sudden death in sport-related activities. Cardiac arrest involves unexpected blood flow loss that contributes to heart failure in pumping effectively. Thirdly, physical activity is a key term in this report and entails complete body movement presented by skeletal muscles that need continued energy supply. Lastly, sport is also a keyword in the report. It refers to any physical effort and skills where individuals in teams compete for championships or entertainment. Thus, these keywords are significant in comprehending the sudden death issue in sport-related activities.

Cardiac Arrest and Sudden Death in Sports

Researchers associate cardiac arrest with sudden death in sport with high-intensity competition and training. Wasfy et al. (2016) state that sudden death incidences brought about by cardiac arrest and heart failure are unknown but common. Many athletes who have experienced sudden death in sports have been considered cardiac arrest victims and the heart's pumping activity limitations. As an illustration, during the 2021 UEFA EURO games in Europe, Christian Eriksen, who plays for the Denmark national side, experienced a cardiac arrest that caused panic worldwide among fans, coaches, and medical teams (Sky Sports, 2021). The fast reaction of the officials and medical personnel, including his teammates, helped the player and ensured his safety. From this situation, it is significant to understand what cardiac arrest can do to players, what can be done to prevent such complications, and how to react.

Increased cases of cardiac arrest have contributed to notable changes in major leagues in sports across the United States and most European countries, particularly England. The UEFA EURO incident prompted many sports organizers worldwide to present measures that help curb cardiac arrest outcomes. For example, ESPN (2021) presents that the Premier League organizers in England opted to fund the use and availability of defibrillators to smaller leagues in England after Eriksen's in-match collapse. Additionally, Santos-Lozano et al. (2017) explain that cardiac arrest presents the major cause of the sudden demise of professional soccer athletes. For this reason, addressing the issue is a core priority among event organizers and medical teams in the different sports leagues worldwide. One significant platform that explores cardiac arrest and its connection to sports entail the media. The media largely focuses on this issue because it highlights the adverse outcomes of sports and exercise activity in health. Surprisingly, many professionals in the medical and health field indicate limited knowledge concerning sports and physical activity science, including its benefits and drawbacks. On the contrary, athletic coaches are usually associated with reduced information on first-aid standards created by responsible sport activity planners. Thus, addressing cardiac arrest and its related negative outcome among professional sports players is required to reduce the increasing cases.

Practitioner Research and Sudden Death in Sports

Many practitioners in different organizations that focus on investigating sudden death cause usually consider various aspects, including the prevalence of these sudden death occurrences in several sport-related activities. For example, according to Angelini et al. (2019), many sports participants with high-risk cardiovascular complications experience increased sudden death based on heart-pumping failure. Based on the study conducted by these academics, about 1.47% of sports participants in schools require secondary analysis regarding cardiovascular conditions. In other words, the population at risk in younger populations is low than that of adults. Moreover, practitioner research must focus on other causes of sudden death among adult and younger adults active in sports.

While many researchers, including Corrado and Zorzi (2017), consider cardiac arrest the major factor associated with sudden death in physical activity, other scholars indicate more causes of sudden demise. For example, Rodriguez et al. (2012) state that many adult athletes that have been victims of sudden death while in the field have experienced it because of tuberculous coronary arteritis. Another notable cause of sudden death besides cardiac arrest involves cerebrovascular accidents, common among players that engage in high engagement sports, such as NFL and rugby. Furthermore, according to Bille et al. (2006), unexpected demise in physical and other sporting activities can be managed when the causes of demise are understood and well addressed. In other words, without understanding sudden death factors, such as cerebrovascular accidents, tuberculosis, coronary arteritis, and cardiac arrest, it will be impossible to prevent sudden death, making it an important area for practitioner research.

Since cardiac abnormalities are the core causes of a sudden demise, in this case, every part must be involved in medical information that could help save a life. An excellent example of information importance that can be a significant response to cardiac arrest cases in sports involves the vitality of first aid and first response. According to Sky Sports (2021), the immediate reaction of the match between Denmark and Finland that saw the cardiac arrest incidence of Christian Eriksen contributed to first-aid benefits. The fast and immediate use of a defibrillator helped resuscitate the player, contributing to his safety chances. For this reason, practitioner research must be directed towards discussing the essentials that will ensure the safety of players experiencing cardiac arrest within the first few minutes. Additionally, practitioner research should also involve presenting rules and regulations that rally for information regarding medical standards, including first-aid levels.

Workplace Research

Research in sporting organizations is one of the most important procedures that help maintain safe and better working environments for coaches, medical teams, and athletes. According to Dennis et al. (2018), research in sports organizations that run different teams is important in the sudden death issue because they are likely to be affected by this problem. For example, researching players and their medical conditions is among the first practices and procedures to help prevent any sudden death cases. Furthermore, if team owners responsible for paying players their salaries understand the negative consequences and risks associated with increased sporting intensity, they will find it easier to establish necessary preventions and measures. For this reason, workplace research must focus on the conditions of the players before engaging them in intense physical training and competition games. In addition, health status information can also check for notable conditions that may invite sudden heart pumping failure during sport-related activities.

Secondly, workplace research needs to focus on coaches and their medical understanding. Even though teams have medical personnel during competitive matches, coaches need to have information regarding first aid and apply it in training. Since training in sports activity can create cardiac arrest conditions that may lead to death (Schmied and Borjesson, 2014), it is important and necessary for coaches to possess such helpful information. As an illustration, coaches should take classes that help them recognize signs and symptoms of a cardiac arrest in sports training, which will help them interfere and help keep players safe. Furthermore, without such information, medical personnel can take longer to arrive at the scene during training, making it impossible to provide first aid to the player. In other words, coaches need to understand medical information and common causes of sudden death during physical and sport-related activity, which can only be achieved through medical research in the workplace or sporting organizations.

Furthermore, workplace research can also involve evaluating the effectiveness of athletes' medical training programs. Eckart et al. (2011) explain that many young adults experience myocardial difficulties, hindering their heart activity, which might lead to sudden death. In most cases, many athletes lack the general information and knowledge required to prevent increased cases of sudden death during active sports games. For instance, in the United Kingdom, lack of comprehension regarding preventive courses of action is the core cause of death in physical and sporting activities (Finocchiaro et al., 2016). The study conducted by these researchers in the UK presented various causes of sudden demise primarily linked to intense training and competition during games.

For this reason, workplace research needs to evaluate the practicality and usefulness of medical programs for athletes that will help them understand what to do when one of their teammates or opponents experiences a cardiac arrest during a competitive match or training episode. Moreover, suppose workplace research instills knowledge among athletes. In that case, it is easier for younger athletes that experience lower sudden death cases (Corrado & Zorzi, 2017) to protect the adult athletes if they experience cardiac arrest incidences. Thus, workplace research can teach athletes how to use defibrillators, assisting with random cardiac arrest incidents during training and games. In this sense, workplace research can contribute greatly to reduced sudden death incidences worldwide in different sports.

Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge transfer entails the practical and notable strategy used for exchanging or transitioning information between or among different organizations in discrepant disciplines or industries. The concept is considered a theoretical and practical approach that can improve organizational systems and culture simultaneously. Today, many medical organizations and professionals focus on research regarding factors that contribute to increased death cases. As an illustration, medical experts have taken time to explore the connection of sudden death in sporting exercises and cardiac arrest (Maron et al., 2014; Solberg et al., 2010). Knowledge transfer can prevent increased cases of cardiac arrest in sports that lead to unexpected death. Therefore, the transfer and transition of knowledge between medical organizations and centers for research can be a crucial knowledge transfer activity that prevents the increasing cases.

As an illustration, in the United States, sporting companies from different leagues, including basketball, American Football, hockey, and soccer, can liaise with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in gaining information concerning the cardiac arrest. According to Pineda et al. (2016), physicians are among the most informed people on cardiac arrest, and involving them in this issue can reduce cases, especially among young adults. Thus, the CDC can provide programs that help athletes, coaches, and medical personnel in sporting companies respond to such incidents. In addition, knowledge transfer involving medical officials, the CDC, and sports coaches can help a great deal in dealing with cardiac arrest cases. As an illustration, the CDC will provide medical knowledge concerning the sudden death issue, leading to better and informed parties in and off the pitch during games. Additionally, the knowledge transfer can lead to increased awareness of the causes of unexpected death in sports-related activities.

Integration of Research Skills in Solving the Problem of Sudden Death in Sports

Research in sporting activities is one of the most important aspects that organizations and team owners must understand when dealing with high-intensity and volume training activities. One benefit of sports research involves understanding the ways coaches and athletes interact and function during different activities. For this reason, having excellent research skills in sports can help provide techniques and solutions to the unexpected death problem. According to Corrado et al. (2011), understanding what factors contribute to sudden cardiac demise can help mitigate such incidences. However, without research, it is not easy for sporting organizations to understand these causes. Therefore, researching these causes is one of the ways that sports research skills can help solve the challenge of unexpected death.

Furthermore, sports research is also important in solving the cardiac arrest and sudden death problem. It provides knowledge and essential information concerning ways to prevent any cardiac arrest cases in sports. Following knowledge transfer between medical organizations and sporting teams, it is easier to understand preventive action required to eliminate cardiac complications after intense physical exercise. Mohananey et al. (2017) explain that increased accuracy and preciseness involved in evaluating athletes' physical health before participating in any sport-related exercise will prevent any cardiac cases by barring those at risk from participating. For this reason, research skills on the prevention of cardiac arrests, such as physical health evaluations, can limit athlete populations at risk, particularly adult athletes. Therefore, besides knowledge transfer, research skills in sport are among the most effective strategies to mitigate cases of sudden death brought about by myocardial complications and various cardiovascular conditions.

Common Cardiovascular Conditions Linked with Unexpected Death in Sports (Wasfy et al., 2016)

Genetic Abnormal Heart (Structurally)	Normal Heart (Structurally)
· Valvular heart disease · Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy · Congenital anomalies · Dilated cardiomyopathy	· Brugada complication · Congenital problems · Ventricular conditions
Acquired
· Myocarditis · Kawasaki's disease · Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease	· Drug-induced long QT · Commotio Cordis · Various environmental factors

Application and Future Integration

The information presented in this applied research report concerning sudden death in sports-related activities can be applied and integrated in many ways in the future. To begin with, the information can be used by sporting teams across the world that are likely to experience such problems. Sporting teams can use this information to understand the cause and prevention strategies to reduce unexpected cardiac deaths in sports. Medical teams and coaches in sporting companies must be ready to use this information to curb increasing cardiac death cases. For example, congenital and acquired heart conditions, commonly known as cardiovascular conditions, can lead to death, a core problem of teams with adult players.

Additionally, the information from this report can be integrated into the future in different areas, including medical centers and sporting organizations. Medical centers and sports firms can use this applied research report to understand the benefits of knowledge transfer and research skills. Many companies use knowledge transfer in dealing with problems and providing practical and effective solutions. Furthermore, using sports research skills in solving the challenge of cardiac death and other challenges can help ensure the safety of young and adult athletes.

Conclusion

In summary, sudden death in sports is one of the most common problems that young and adult athletes experience. This applied research report focuses on various aspects and causes of unexpected death in sports, particularly cardiac arrest. Cardiovascular conditions, including both congenital and acquired conditions, contribute to increasing cardiac death causes. Therefore, understanding the causes of heart-pumping failure can help reduce and prevent unexpected death in sports. However, practitioner and workplace research can also provide important knowledge to prevent any factors that increase cardiac arrest cases in sports-related activities. Additionally, understanding the proper use of knowledge transfer and sports research skills can help mitigate and eliminate these cases.

References

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