Creating An Injury And Illness Surveillance System For Team USA - Part 1: Development And Implementation

PURPOSE: This abstract describes the process behind the development and implementation of an injury and illness surveillance (IIS) system for Team USA. METHODS: The development and deployment of the IIS employed a multiphase approach. First, researchers compiled a set of variables to include in the IIS, starting from the 2020 IOC consensus statement for reporting sport epidemiological data. Second, hosting and deployment platforms were comprehensively evaluated for their suitability, ease of use, flexibility, and backend data structure (for both capture and aggregation). Third, focus groups consisting of Sports Medicine department leadership and clinicians piloted the IIS system and revisions were made based on their feedback. Next, pilot testing of the IIS and follow-up focus groups were conducted among all departmental clinicians to solicit additional feedback and drive further revisions. Finally, the IIS system was piloted among providers working during the 2023 Pan American and Parapan American Games to refine the system for future Games periods. RESULTS: After reviewing all potential software platform options (electronic medical record [EMR] system, athlete management systems, secure data collection platforms), Qualtrics was selected to host the IIS system due to the inability of the EMR and athlete-management systems to make frequent updates, modify existing questions, and provide the necessary form logic for the variety of scenarios in which the IIS system would be deployed. Feedback from department leadership and clinicians resulted in a number of changes, most notably being the ability to enter multiple diagnoses for a single injury event. Additionally, clinician feedback resulted in the creation of additional diagnostic codes not currently present in the OSIICS v14.0 diagnostic coding system, adding “non-sport” as an additional variable for injury setting, and developing a system for reporting return-to-sport date for time-loss injuries. CONCLUSIONS: A multi-stage process of extensive planning, stakeholder feedback, and on-going updates is required in order to successfully develop and implement an IIS system within a National Olympic and Paralynpic Committee. This process can be used to inform the development and implementation of IIS systems in other sporting organizations.