ABSTRACT
Background: In the assessment of the respiratory system, pulmonary function tests (PFTs) have achieved a lot of importancenowadays due to an increase in the cardiorespiratory disease and to a steep rise in air pollution. These functional tests andtheir parameters tend to have a relationship with lifestyle such as regular exercise and non-exercise. Hence, the present studywas undertaken to assess the effects of exercise in tennis players on the respiratory system which are compared with normalhealthy sedentary individuals.Aim of the Study: The aim of this study was to determine and compare the differences between the pulmonary functions ofhealthy individuals playing regular tennis for 2 h daily and normal sedentary individuals.The Objective of the Study: The study included 39 tennis players playing regular tennis for 2 h and 37 normal sedentaryindividuals who are not interested in any sports or games actively.Materials and Methods: PFTs such as forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratoryflow (PEF), VC, and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) of the study group were included in the study. The results wereanalyzed with standard spirometer. The arithmetic means and standard deviations of data have been obtained in the statisticalevaluation. As a result of the findings obtained, independent sample t-test has been applied.Observations and Results: No significant difference has been found among the age, height, body weight, body mass index,FEV1, and PEF values of the groups at the end of the test (P > 0.05); however, a significant difference has been found amongMVV, FVC, and VC values.Conclusions: Final analysis of the study showed that no difference is present between the FEV1 and PEF values of tennisplayers who have long-term and regular exercises and sedentary individuals. However, there is a significant difference amongMVV, FVC, and VC values between the two groups. Therefore, it has been found that the pulmonary capacities (MVV, FVC,and VC) of individuals having regular exercises have higher values than that of sedentary individuals.