Pre-Participation Exams for Student Athletes
The pre-participation physical examination (PPE) has been used for several decades to screen athletes for possible health conditions that could make their sports participation unsafe. The main goal of the PPE is to detect any health condition that predisposes the athlete to physical harm during competition. The PPE is also used to establish the general wellbeing and fitness of an individual.(1)
The PPE checks a multitude of physical aspects of the individual, such as blood pressure and cardiovascular health. During the eye exam section of the PPE, the goal of the physician is to “detect vision defects that leave one of the eyes with a >20/40 corrected vision.”(2) The physician should also be notified of the patient’s ocular history; earlier conditions of myopia, eye surgery, or general injury/infection increase the athlete’s risk for eye injury. It is also essential for the physician to know if the athlete has had a family history of eye disorders. (3)
Athletes with a history of eye disorders and/or diseases are at a greater risk for a serious eye injury. When an athlete has a best corrected visual acuity less than 20/40 in one eye, he or she is required to wear sports eye protectors. This is necessary in order to decrease the risk of eye damage during games and practices.(4)
Young athletes may not be particularly motivated to get a PPE, especially because they may feel that such an exam is over-cautious or unnecessary. However, athletes that do not have a proper pre-participation eye exam will put themselves at increased risk for a multitude of potential harms, including eye injuries. Common types of eye trauma include blunt, penetrating, and radiation injuries. All of these types of trauma may leave permanent and lasting damage to the eye.(5)
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Footnotes
(1) Lombardo J, Badolato S. “The Preparticipation Physical Examination.” Sports Med 2001;10-25.
(2) Kurowski K, Chandran S. “The Preparticipation Athletic Evaluation.” Am Fam Phys 2000;61:2683-2690.
(3) Locke S, Colquhoun D, Briner M, Ellis L, O'Brien M, Wollstein J, et al. “Squash racquets. A review of physiology and medicine.” Sports Med 1997;23:130-8.
(4) Jeffers JB. “An ongoing tragedy: pediatric sports-related eye injuries.” Semin Ophthalmol 1990;5:216-23.
(5) Cassen JH. “Ocular Trauma.” Hawaii Med J 1997;56:292-4.