Sudden cardiac death in young people has been mostly correlated with the death of athletes during a sport event or training. According to a study published in American Journal of Cardiology, sudden cardiac death at young age is much more frequent in young non-athletes than athletes. This misconception is mainly caused by the attention of media on deaths of young athletes.
As a result of this perception, athletes are frequently undergoing cardiac tests while the rest young population (who are in higher risk) is not tested at all. The study took place at the U.S.A. and showed that sudden cardiac death at ages 14-23 years old is 8 times more frequent in non-athletes than athletes. Additionally, the risk was adjusted to the total population of non-athletes and athletes and it was still found 3 times higher. According to the investigators, one of the reasons that athletes had a lower risk of sudden cardiac death was the medical checks they had before sports participation. Another interesting fact was the vast majority of deaths occurred on sedentary conditions or during light exercise and not during intense exercise.
The findings of this study raises the question whether it is ethical to perform cardiac screening tests only on young athletes and not on the rest young population who appears to be in greater risk.