text_1: Testing Athletes’ Hearts May Cut Deaths
text_2: The article describes a study from Italy that reports that rates of sudden cardiac death fell after a screening program with EKG prior to sports participation was instituted. The article does a nice job of including cost and harms information. Letting readers know that screening can lead to unnecessary procedures (which have risks) is particularly valuable, given that many people perceive screening programs to be harmless. The story also provides statements to caution readers about the strength of the evidence, although the fact that this was a population-based cohort study which could not account for all confounders could have been clearer. The article reports benefits in relative terms; providing absolute reductions would have been best particularly because the relative reduction of 89% looks quite large, but the absolute risk is small in the first place and the risk reduction is even smaller. The article also does not describe any alternatives to screening with EKG. Often athletes do have a history and physical before participation and an accompanying editorial published with the study points out that this type of screening may be just as effective as screening with EKG, but we just don’t know. Overall, a balanced presentation, in only 600 words.