The provision and use of medical services during the 1991 World Student Games in Sheffield.

This paper describes the provision and use of medical services organized by Sheffield during the World Student Games in 1991. A descriptive study of medical and physio-therapy records, together with minor incident logs and hospital referrals, was carried out. It was found that 571 medical records and 357 physiotherapy records were completed, of which 83 per cent were generated at the Games Village. The majority of patients were competitors, although team officials accounted for a disproportionate number. Most physiotherapy requests were for sports injuries, whereas this was not so for medical cases. Twenty-five per cent of medical records and 40 per cent of physiotherapy records were for recurrent conditions which had started before arrival. Athletics and football accounted for the greatest number of records per competitor. During the Games, 82 patients were referred to hospital, of whom only 12 were admitted. The largest group of hospital referrals was for dental treatment, and the next largest was for minor trauma. A total of 1089 minor incidents were recorded, mainly at the competition venues and in the Physiotherapy Room at the Games Village. In addition, the Red Cross and the St John Ambulance Association attended to 330 people during the Games. The smallest national teams tended to make most demands on services, probably because the larger teams were accompanied by their own medical and physiotherapy staff. It is concluded that the main demands for medical services at the World Student Games were for general practice and physiotherapy at the Games Village, and for first aid at competition venues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)