Exercise - induced bronchospasm in soccer players

ABSTRACT

Exercise is one of the most prevalent predisposing factors of bronchospasm. Its symptoms may be merely due to physical activities. Clear understanding of exercise-induced bronchospasm is essential to eliminate complications and achieve more effective treatment. The study population consisted of Tehran soccer-players. In this clinical trial, four soccer clubs were selected by cluster random sampling. The means of data collecting included history taking, physical examination, and the performance of spirometry tests at rests as well as 5 and 12 minutes after exercise. One hundred soccer players were enrolled in this study with the mean age [ +/- SD] of 20 +/- 4.26 years old. The mean values of FEV1 +/- SD measured at 5 minutes before as well as 5 and 12 minutes after a ten-minute continuos exercise were 4.15 +/- 0.44, 4.13 +/- 0.5, and 4.12 +/- 0.49 liter respectively. These differences seem to be age related.12 minutes after exercise, 6 players have shown reduced FEV1 [15-17%] in respect of resting value [4.78 +/- 0.52 vs. 3.57 +/- 0.33]. The prevalence of exercise-induced bronchospasm was 6% in our study, comparable to 3-11% reported of others. The lower prevalence of exercise- induced bronchospasm in our study may be due to older study group, negative history of allergy and pulmonary diseases in our cases