Epidemiology of adverse events and near misses in public exercise facilities: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

Abstract Background This study aims to identify the demographics of new users of training rooms in public exercise facilities in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, as well as determine the incidence and frequency of adverse events and near misses of users exercising in the training room. Methods This prospective cohort study was conducted between October 2021 and December 2022. The participants were 1,235 (739 male and 496 female) new users of training rooms in three public exercise facilities in Fujisawa City who agreed to respond to the survey questionnaire comprising questions on demographics (age, sex, height, weight, exercise habits, underlying medical conditions, preworkout health check created based on Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire +: PAR-Q་), frequency of training room use, and occurrence of adverse events and near misses during exercise. Participant demographics were elicited at baseline using a questionnaire. Furthermore, data on the frequency of use and adverse events/near misses were reported by staff. Results The study found that 54.4% of the male and 72.9% of the female users of public exercise facilities did not report any exercise habits. The proportion of individuals with underlying medical conditions and persons included in one or more of the seven-item preexercise health check was higher in older age groups than in younger groups for both males and females. During the observation period, participants did not experience any adverse events or near misses. However, all training room users experienced a total of six adverse events, five of which were falls, of which four occurred in users aged 60 years or older. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest consideration of preexisting health conditions, the use of a standardized preexercise health check, and the education of trainers at public exercise facilities in Japan to avoid the occurrence of adverse events and near misses during exercise, particularly for those with underlying medical conditions and those in the older age group.