What impact have the IOC medical consensus statements made on athlete health? A survey of medical commissions from National Olympic/Paralympic Committees and International Sports Federations
Background The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Scientific Commission has supported collating and sharing evidence globally by developing sports medicine consensus statements (‘Statements’’). Publishing the Statements requires substantial resources that must be balanced by use and impact on policy and practice. This study aimed to gain a better understanding of awareness and uptake of the Statements globally through a survey of the National Olympic Committees (NOC), National Paralympic Committees (NPC) and International Federations (IF). Method A cross-sectional survey of medical commission representatives from NOCs/NPCs/IFs. A structured questionnaire was distributed through the IOC head office, informed by prior research. Questions comprised a mix of closed and open-text responses with results presented descriptively by organisation type and total. Results 55 responses were included: 29 (52%) from NOC/NPC representatives (response rate 14%) and 26 (47%) from IF repre