General Medical Considerations for the Wilderness Adventurer: Medical Conditions That May Worsen With or Present Challenges to Coping With Wilderness Exposure

Tracy A Cushing; William O Roberts; Peter Hackett; William W Dexter; Jeff S Brent; Craig C Young; Jessie R Fudge; Seth C Hawkins; Thomas G DeLoughery; Benjamin J Thomas; Geoffrey C Tabin; Leah E Jacoby; Chad A Asplund

doi:10.1016/j.wem.2015.09.007

General Medical Considerations for the Wilderness Adventurer: Medical Conditions That May Worsen With or Present Challenges to Coping With Wilderness Exposure

Wilderness Environ Med. 2015 Dec;26(4 Suppl):S20-9. doi: 10.1016/j.wem.2015.09.007.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado (Drs Cushing and Hackett). Electronic address: tracycushing@gmail.com.
² Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota (Dr Roberts).
³ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado (Drs Cushing and Hackett); Institute for Altitude Medicine, Telluride, Colorado (Dr Hackett).
⁴ Department of Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts (Dr Dexter).
⁵ Department of Sports Medicine, The Vancouver Clinic, Vancouver, Washington (Dr Brent).
⁶ Department of Orthopedics/Community & Family Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Dr Young).
⁷ Department of Family Medicine, Group Health Cooperative, Everett, Washington (Dr Fudge).
⁸ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Dr Hawkins).
⁹ Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics and Pathology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon (Dr DeLoughery).
¹⁰ Department of Ophthalmology, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (Drs Thomas and Tabin).
¹¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, Colorado (Dr Jacoby).
¹² Department of Family Medicine, Georgia Regents University, Augusta, Georgia (Dr Asplund).

PMID: 26617375
DOI: 10.1016/j.wem.2015.09.007

Abstract

Participation in wilderness and adventure sports is on the rise, and as such, practitioners will see more athletes seeking clearance to participate in these events. The purpose of this article is to describe specific medical conditions that may worsen or present challenges to the athlete in a wilderness environment.

Keywords: chronic medical conditions; preparticipation evaluation; wilderness athlete.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Athletes
Chronic Disease
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Mental Disorders
Physical Examination / methods*
Physician-Patient Relations
Risk Assessment*
Risk Factors
Sports Medicine / methods*
Sports*
Wilderness*