In Reply.—Dr Beasley's concern brings into sharp focus the inability of today's health care system to provide truly comprehensive adolescent health care to even the 5 to 7 million junior and senior high school participants in scholastic sport programs. As implied by Dr Beasley, young persons in this age group will usually have few, if any, contacts during a given year with health care providers.
Increasingly, safe sport participation demands a preparticipation health evaluation. In view of the numbers involved and the availability of health care professionals, there exists a need for a specific sport-directed examination that will be effective, equally available to all, and economically feasible. In addition, the examination should satisfy the following goals:
Identify medical conditions that may preclude or interfere with safe and effective participation in any particular sport.
Identify medical conditions that may be worsened by sport participation.
Assure the coaches