The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games: an analysis of usage of the Olympic Village ‘Polyclinic’ by competing athletes

Abstract

Engebretsen, L. (2013). The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games: An analysis of usage of the Olympic Village 'Polyclinic' by competing athletes. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 47,[415][416][417][418][419] Dette er siste tekst-versjon av artikkelen, og den kan inneholde små forskjeller fra forlagets pdf-versjon. Forlagets pdf-versjon finner du på bjsm.bmj.com: http://dx.doi. org/10.1136/bjsports-2013-092325 This is the final text version of the article, and it may contain minor differences from the journal's pdf version. Results: There were a total of 3,220 encounters within the Polyclinic. This figure combines medical consultations, radiology / pathology investigations and prescriptions dispensed. Of these 3,220 encounters there were 2,105 medical consultations; musculoskeletal comprised the greatest number (52%), followed by dental (30%) and ophthalmic (9%). The most frequently used imaging modality was magnetic resonance imaging and diagnostic computer tomography was used the least. After correction for multiple entries, Africa provided the largest proportion of athletes attending the Polyclinic (44%) and Europe the least (9%). Peak usage of all facilities was seen around days 9-10 of competition reflecting the busiest time of competition and largest number of athletes in the Village.Conclusions: The Polyclinic managed a wide variety of both sports-related and non sports-related injuries and illnesses. The breadth of specialists available for consultation was appropriate as was the ease of access to them. The radiology department was able to satisfy demand, as were the pharmacy and pathology services. We would recommend a similar structure of facilities and available expertise in one clinic when planning future mass participation sporting events.

The role of sports physiotherapy at the London 2012 Olympic Games

“…The pattern of physiotherapy activities mirrored the build-up and gradual reduction in physiotherapy activity over the period of competition, as was mentioned in the previously reported study on physiotherapy in Athens 20043 and the overall polyclinic activity during the 2012 Olympic Games 11 12…”

“…A high usage of physiotherapy services has been reported in the previous studies 12 21. The introduction of direct access for physiotherapy (no referral required) for the LOCOG physiotherapy services was a significant new scope, and offered athletes a greater access to physiotherapy support.…”

Sport, sex and age increase risk of illness at the Rio 2016 Summer Paralympic Games: a prospective cohort study of 51 198 athlete days

“…This may also represent a situation where illnesses may have been reported to the doctor in time to prevent time loss for the athlete involved and may also have prevented the spreading of contagious (respiratory) illnesses through the rest of the team, possibly reducing even more time loss for other athletes. However, this finding may reflect that illnesses at the London Games were recorded using both the WEB-IISS system and data from the ATOS system used by local medical services, whereas at the Rio Games, only WEB-IISS data were used, possibly resulting in a lower illness IR at these Games 7. The lack of Rio polyclinic data constitutes a limitation of the current study.…”

Utilization of Chiropractic Care at the World Games 2013

“…Injury surveillance and reporting systems used at the Olympic and Paralympic Games analyze the standard reporting form used by medical professionals, the types of injuries sustained by athletes, and the frequency of injuries to each body region. [1][2][3][4][5] However, research on patterns in competitions other than the Olympics and on approaches other than Western medicine, such as the use of chiropractic care, is still lacking.…”

“…The purposes of this study were to describe 1 patient demographics (athlete vs non-athlete status, nationality, and sport), 2 patterns of chiropractic treatment, and 3 the reported level of pain before and after chiropractic treatment.…”