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Athletes with asthma need more help from their team trainers

Category: Allergy Testing

Not enough NCAA trainers are managing their athletes' asthma according to best practice standards, according to a new study appearing in the American College of Sports Medicine's journal.

"Since it's impossible to predict an asthma attack, we need to be prepared for when it happens," said Jonathan Parsons, lead author of the study and associate director of the Asthma Center at the Ohio State University Medical Center.

The researchers sent out a survey to thousands of athletic trainers in NCAA sports medicine programs and found that around one-fifth of the respondents had an asthma management program at their institution. Many don't require a rescue inhaler to be available at all games or practices.

According to Parsons, the results suggest an overwhelming majority of NCAA sports medicine programs are not adhering to national asthma guidelines.

"Research data supports testing athletes for asthma when it's suspected, having inhalers immediately on-hand and asthma specialists as part of their care," says Parsons.

Many athletes ignore exercise-induced asthma, thinking they are just performing poorly or out of shape. Ten percent of the general population has asthma but is not aware of it since they only experience symptoms when exercising.