Incidence of recreational sports-related sudden cardiac arrest in participants over age 12 in a general African population.

Background: The incidence of sports-related sudden cardiac arrest (SrSCA) in sub-Saharan Africa is unknown.

Objective: To determine the incidence of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in non-competitive athletes in an urban population of Cameroon, a country in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Two study populations in Cameroon were used. A 12-month, multisource surveillance system of 86 189 inhabitants over 12 years old recorded all deaths in two administrative districts of Douala City. All fields of sports, emergency medical service, local medical examiners and district hospital mortuaries were surveyed. Two blinded cardiologists used a verbal autopsy protocol to determine the cause of death. SCA was identified for all deaths occurring within 1 hour of onset of symptoms. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 793 persons in Yaoundé City, which is the second study population aimed at determining the proportion of people who are physically active.

Results: The mean age in the cross-sectional study was 27.3±10.7, with more men (56.2%). The cross-sectional study showed that 69.0% (95% CI 65.8 to 72.2) of the population could be considered to have at least 3 hours of physical activity per week. The surveillance found that among 288 all-cause deaths, 27 (9.4%) were due to SCA. One SrSCA was registered in a 35-year-old woman while running. Merging both sources revealed an SrSCA incidence of 1.7 (95% CI 0.2 to 12.0) cases per 100 000 athletes per year.

Conclusion: This pioneer study reports the incidence estimates of SrSCA in a sub-Saharan African general population and should be regarded as a first step to a big problem.