IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i4p1621-d495823.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sudden Cardiac Death Risk in Downhill Skiers and Mountain Hikers and Specific Prevention Strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Josef Niebauer

    (University Institute of Sports Medicine, Prevention and Rehabilitation, Paracelsus Medical University, Lindhofstraße 20, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
    Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention, Lindhofstraße 22, 5020 Salzburg, Austria)

  • Martin Burtscher

    (Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria)

Abstract

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) still represents an unanticipated and catastrophic event eliciting from cardiac causes. SCD is the leading cause of non-traumatic deaths during downhill skiing and mountain hiking, related to the fact that these sports are very popular among elderly people. Annually, more than 40 million downhill skiers and mountain hikers/climbers visit mountainous regions of the Alps, including an increasing number of individuals with pre-existing chronic diseases. Data sets from two previously published case-control studies have been used to draw comparisons between the SCD risk of skiers and hikers. Data of interest included demographic variables, cardiovascular risk factors, medical history, physical activity, and additional symptoms and circumstances of sudden death for cases. To establish a potential connection between the SCD risk and sport-specific physical strain, data on cardiorespiratory responses to downhill skiing and mountain hiking, assessed in middle-aged men and women, have been included. It was demonstrated that previous myocardial infarction (MI) (odds ratio; 95% CI: 92.8; 22.8–379.1; p < 0.001) and systemic hypertension (9.0; 4.0–20.6; p < 0.001) were predominant risk factors for SCD in skiers, but previous MI (10.9; 3.8–30.9; p < 0.001) and metabolic disorders like hypercholesterolemia (3.4; 2.2–5.2; p < 0.001) and diabetes (7.4; 1.6–34.3; p < 0.001) in hikers. More weekly high-intensity exercise was protective in skiers (0.17; 0.04–0.74; p = 0.02), while larger amounts of mountain sports activities per year were protective in hikers (0.23; 0.1–0.4; <0.001). In conclusion, previous MI history represents the most important risk factor for SCD in recreational skiers and hikers as well, and adaptation to high-intensity exercise is especially important to prevent SCD in skiers. Moreover, the presented differences in risk factor patterns for SCDs and discussed requirements for physical fitness in skiers and hikers will help physicians to provide specifically targeted advice.

Suggested Citation

  • Josef Niebauer & Martin Burtscher, 2021. "Sudden Cardiac Death Risk in Downhill Skiers and Mountain Hikers and Specific Prevention Strategies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-7, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1621-:d:495823
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1621/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1621/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Niedermeier & Hannes Gatterer & Elena Pocecco & Anika Frühauf & Martin Faulhaber & Verena Menz & Johannes Burtscher & Markus Posch & Gerhard Ruedl & Martin Burtscher, 2019. "Mortality in Different Mountain Sports Activities Primarily Practiced in the Winter Season—A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Hannes Gatterer & Martin Niedermeier & Elena Pocecco & Anika Frühauf & Martin Faulhaber & Verena Menz & Johannes Burtscher & Markus Posch & Gerhard Ruedl & Martin Burtscher, 2019. "Mortality in Different Mountain Sports Activities Primarily Practiced in the Summer Season—A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-13, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Markus Posch & Johannes Burtscher & Gerhard Ruedl & Elena Pocecco & Martin Burtscher, 2022. "Unchanged Fatality Rate on Austrian Ski Slopes during the COVID-19 Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-7, June.
    2. Arnulf Josef Hartl & Johanna Freidl & Daniela Huber, 2023. "Effects of Alpine Natural Health Resources on Human Health and Wellbeing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-3, June.
    3. Martin Burtscher & Urs Hefti & Gerhard Ruedl & Jacqueline Pichler Hefti, 2022. "Editorial on the Research Topic the 2nd Edition of Mountain Sports Activities: Injuries and Prevention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-3, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anika Frühauf & Martin Kopp & Martin Niedermeier, 2022. "Risk Factors for Accidents and Close Calls in Junior Freeriders, Adolescent Alpine Skiers and Adult Freeriders—A Comparison," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-12, November.
    2. Martin Burtscher & Martin Niedermeier & Hannes Gatterer, 2021. "Editorial on the Special Issue on “Mountain Sports Activities: Injuries and Prevention”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-7, February.
    3. Mathias Ströhle & Ina Beeretz & Christopher Rugg & Simon Woyke & Simon Rauch & Peter Paal, 2019. "Canyoning Accidents in Austria from 2005 to 2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Martin Burtscher & Urs Hefti & Gerhard Ruedl & Jacqueline Pichler Hefti, 2022. "Editorial on the Research Topic the 2nd Edition of Mountain Sports Activities: Injuries and Prevention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-3, August.
    5. Elena Pocecco & Hamed Wafa & Johannes Burtscher & Peter Paal & Peter Plattner & Markus Posch & Gerhard Ruedl, 2022. "Mortality in Recreational Mountain-Biking in the Austrian Alps: A Retrospective Study over 16 Years," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, September.
    6. Martin Niedermeier & Claudia Kogler & Anika Frühauf & Martin Kopp, 2020. "Psychological Variables Related to Developmental Changes during Adolescence—A Comparison between Alpine and Non-Alpine Sport Participants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-10, October.
    7. Mathias Ströhle & Matthias Haselbacher & Christopher Rugg & Alex Walpoth & Ricarda Konetschny & Peter Paal & Peter Mair, 2019. "Mortality in Via Ferrata Emergencies in Austria from 2008 to 2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-8, December.
    8. Christopher Rugg & Laura Tiefenthaler & Simon Rauch & Hannes Gatterer & Peter Paal & Mathias Ströhle, 2020. "Rock Climbing Emergencies in the Austrian Alps: Injury Patterns, Risk Analysis and Preventive Measures," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-14, October.
    9. Cristina Rotllan & Ginés Viscor, 2023. "Winter Sports Injuries in Elite Female Athletes: A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-9, May.
    10. Markus Posch & Johannes Burtscher & Gerhard Ruedl & Elena Pocecco & Martin Burtscher, 2022. "Unchanged Fatality Rate on Austrian Ski Slopes during the COVID-19 Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-7, June.
    11. Martin Niedermeier & Hannes Gatterer & Elena Pocecco & Anika Frühauf & Martin Faulhaber & Verena Menz & Johannes Burtscher & Markus Posch & Gerhard Ruedl & Martin Burtscher, 2019. "Mortality in Different Mountain Sports Activities Primarily Practiced in the Winter Season—A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-11, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1621-:d:495823. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.