Parents' knowledge of the purposes and content of preparticipation physical examinations

Objectives: To determine whether parents of student athletes plan to use the preparticipation physical examination (PPE) as their student athlete's only annual health evaluation, to identify factors associated with this decision, and to assess their knowledge about the objectives of PPEs and more comprehensive examinations. Design: Survey. Setting: General community, school-sponsored PPEs. Participants: A convenience sample of parents or guardians of high school student athletes who obtained a school-sponsored, multiple-station format PPE were surveyed by using an anonymous paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Questionnaires were completed by the parents of 381 of 763 student athletes who obtained PPEs (participation rate, 49.9%). Results: Thirty percent of the parents in this sample planned to use the PPE as their student athlete's only contact with a health care provider. Parents whose adolescent's health insurance provided for comprehensive health assessments were more likely than those without this benefit to plan a comprehensive care evaluation (75% vs 60%, respectively) (P = .01 by [[chi].sup.2] analysis). In addition to addressing problems that might affect sports participation, parents thought that the PPE visit should evaluate medical problems that are unrelated to athletics (34%), perform health screening procedures (22%), assess social or behavioral issues (16%), and provide immunizations (7%). Conclusions: Many parents plan to use the PPE as their student athlete's only scheduled contact with a health care provider; this decision may be influenced by factors that are related to access to health care and misperceptions with regard to the mission of these specialized examinations. For these adolescents, important medical, social, and behavioral needs may not be met. Consideration should be given to including elements of the PPE in health assessments that are performed by individual clinicians or expanding the scope of large-group, multiple-station format PPEs. (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149:653-657)
Parents may abandon regular comprehensive check-ups for their adolescent children when the children begin having preparticipation physical examinations (PPEs). PPEs are group exams intended only to ascertain the child's fitness for participation in school sports. A group of 381 parents of children having a PPE returned a questionnaire surveying how parental attitudes toward check-ups would be affected by their child having a PPE. Eighty-five percent had taken their child for a comprehensive check-up within the previous year and 96% within the prior two years. However, 33% indicated they would replace regular check-ups with the PPE. Seventy-five percent of parents whose insurance paid for check-ups planned to continue them compared with 60% of parents whose insurance did not. Relying on the PPE could prove problematic because it is not designed to address medical and social issues such as health screening, nutrition, substance abuse, sexuality, or immunization.