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We would like to thank Angels Mora and Monica Valero from Sistema d'Emergencies Mediques de Catalunya for their support and help in research tasks. This project was supported by an unconditional grant from Grupo Memora. No conflict of interest to declare. The results of the study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. The results of the present study do not constitute endorsement by the American College of Sports Medicine.

Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Analysis of institutional authors

Barberia, EnekoAuthor

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April 28, 2025
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Characteristics and Causes of Sports-Related Sudden Death in the General Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Publicated to:Medicine And Science In Sports And Exercise. 57 (5): 962-969 - 2025-05-01 57(5), DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003637

Authors: Azeli, Youcef; Rio, Sonia; Toledo, Yobanka; Grazioli, Gonzalo; Brotons, Daniel; Sola-Munoz, Silvia; Jimenez-Fabrega, Xavier; Escalada-Roig, Xavier; Brugada, Ramon; Brugada, Josep; Ortega, Marisa; Barberia, Eneko

Affiliations

Aptima Clin Ctr, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Autononous Univ Barcelona, Fac Med, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Biomed Res Inst Girona Dr Josep Trueta, Girona, Spain - Author
Cardiol Dept Hosp Univ Doctor Josep Trueta, Girona, Spain - Author
Cardiovasc Dis Res Ctr CIBERCV, Madrid, Spain - Author
Catalan Council Sport, Sports & Heath Unit, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Emergency Med Syst Catalonia, Carrer Pablo Iglesias 101-115, Lhospitalet De Llobregat 08908, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ St Joan de Reus, Emergency Dept, Reus, Spain - Author
Inst Legal Med & Forens Sci Catalonia IMLCFC, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Pere Virgili Sanitary Res Inst IISPV, Tarragona, Spain - Author
Rovira Virgili Univ, Fac Med & Heath Sci, Reus, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona IDIBAPS, Hosp Clin, Cardiovasc Inst, August Pi & Sunyer Biomed Res Inst, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Girona, Dept Med Sci, Girona, Spain - Author
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Abstract

PurposeCOVID-19 is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study is to determine the burden, characteristics, and causes of sudden death in sport (SrSD) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the general population.MethodsRetrospective observational study. Autopsied SrSD studied in Catalonia was consecutively included. Two periods were considered: before lockdown (January 2019-March 2020) and after lockdown (March 2020-December 2021). Initial care variables and causes of death were collected. Periods were compared, and logistic regression analyses were performed.ResultsA total of 156 SrSD were collected, with no differences in the incidence between the study periods. Of the cases, 98.7% were male, with a mean age of 55.8 yr (SD, 12.1). Cycling was practiced by 40.0%. Coronary artery disease was the leading cause of death, with no difference before and after lockdown. No cases of myocarditis were described. Of the total number of SrSD, 98 (62.8%) received a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) attempt. After lockdown, the SrSD that occurred in country areas decreased (40.6% vs 24.4%, P = 0.032), and the rate of CPR attempts (54.3% vs 69.8%, P = 0.034) and hands-only CPR increased (76.6% vs 57.9%, P = 0.048).ConclusionsThere were no changes in the burden and causes of SrSD before and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Differences were found in the SrSD initial care received due to the change of basic life support recommendations and the sport activity habits.

Keywords

ArresAssociationCardiac deathCovid-19Good health and well-beingGuidelinesPandemiPandemicSportsSudden cardiac death

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Medicine And Science In Sports And Exercise due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 11/127, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Sport Sciences. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-16:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 6.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 3 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 18.15.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 13 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).
Continuing with the social impact of the work, it is important to emphasize that, due to its content, it can be assigned to the area of interest of ODS 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, with a probability of 87% according to the mBERT algorithm developed by Aurora University.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Azeli, Youcef) and Last Author (Barberia Marcalain, Eneko).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Azeli, Youcef.