Abstract
Adult elite athletes have a higher prevalence of exercise-induced airway symptoms than the general population and it is more common among female athletes than male. Studies on the prevalence of these symptoms in early-career athletes are scarce.
We studied the prevalence of exercise-induced wheeze and dyspnoea in high school athletes, over a two year period, by inviting a cohort (n=272) to answer a questionnaire at age 16 and again at age 18.
At age 16 the prevalence of wheeze was 20.5% and dyspnoea 30.1%, and at age 18 the corresponding figures were; wheeze 18.2% and dyspnoea 21.8%. In comparison with 18-year-olds from the general population (1), the high school athletes reported more wheeze (18.2% vs 12.4% p=0.02).
At age 16, more female athletes reported wheeze and dyspnea compared with males (29.5 vs 12.4% p=0.001 and 43.2 vs 16.8% p<0.001). Two years later, no gender difference was found regarding wheeze, but more females reported dyspnoea, compared with males (28.3 vs 16.5% p=0.02). The prevalence of dyspnoea among females did however decrease with age (43.2 vs 28.3% p=0.005). This was mainly due to less reported dyspnoea, over the two year period, in females with current asthma (86.4 vs 54.5% p=0.008). In male athletes, the prevalence of both symptoms was similar over time.
High school athletes have a higher prevalence of exercise-induced wheeze compared with the general population. A larger proportion of female athletes report exercise-induced symptoms compared with their male peers but this difference seems to decrease with age.
1. Johansson H, et al. Respir Med. 2019;154:76-81.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 1391.
This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2020