Asthma and increased bronchial responsiveness in elite athletes: Atopy and sport event as risk factors☆,☆☆,★,★★
Section snippets
Subjects
One hundred sixty-two athletes and 45 control subjects volunteered to participate. All subjects gave their written informed consent, and the study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee. The athletes were divided into three groups according to their type of training12 and training environment: speed and power track and field athletes (n = 49), long-distance runners (n = 71), and swimmers (n = 42). The main events of speed and power athletes were sprinting (100 to 400 meters,
Results
The mean time from the beginning of active competition sports to the physician diagnosed asthma was 4 years (range, 2 to 6 years) in the two-speed and power athletes, 7.3 years (range, 3 to 14 years) in the 12 long-distance runners, and 5.7 years (range, 2 to 10 years) in the six swimmers who had asthma diagnosed during their sports career (Fig. 1).
Discussion
The subjects of this study were selected by using our previous respiratory symptom questionnaire for elite athletes4 in which willingness for further investigations was questioned. Self-selection may have occurred, with healthier or symptom-free subjects less likely to take part. However, such selection should have occurred in control subjects with equal extent. The results of our previous study compared with this one does not support any significant selection bias. A similar prevalence rate
Acknowledgements
We thank Mrs. Leena Petman, Mrs. Alli Tallqvist, and Mrs. Anne Bruce for technical help.
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Cited by (0)
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From athe Department of Allergology, Helsinki University Central Hospital; bResearch Institute for Olympic Sports, Jyväskylä; and cthe Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki.
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Supported by Finnish Olympic Committee, Finnish Allergy Research Foundation, Finnish Sports Research Foundation, Finnish Medicine Foundation, Ida Montin Foundation, and The Finnish Anti-Tuberculosis Association Foundation.
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Reprint requests: Ilkka J. Helenius, Department of Allergology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, FIN-00250, Helsinki, Finland.
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