The prevalence of exercise induced bronchoconstriction in elite athletes

M. Unal, T. Sahinkaya, De.Namaraslý, V. Akkaya, and A. Kayserilioglu

Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2004) 3, 57-59

For years exercise induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) has been considered as a form of asthma which can be provoked by exercise and air pollution. However, further studies indicated that EIB was not only restricted to asthmatic patients, but could also be seen in healthy individuals. EIB was described as an acute and reversible bronchoconstriction induced 5 to 15 minutes after exercise in certain susceptible individuals.

The incidence of EIB is more than twice as high among athletes (11-50%) compared to the normal population (4-20%). Furthermore, its prevalence is twice as high among winter sports' athletes compared to summer sports' athletes. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate the prevalence of EIB among elite athletes.

The study population consists of 126 male elite athletes (85 soccer players, 25 karateists, 11 swimmers, and 5 wrestlers).  After performing the respiratory function tests, athletes exercised on a treadmill. The speed and the grade of the treadmill increased every 3 minutes according to the protocol until the exhaustion. Electrocardiography (ECG) and blood pressure were continuously monitored, as oxygen uptake was being measured with the "breath by breath" system during the test.

Conclusions. The study found that c 11% to 14% of the elite athletes have EIB when they are tested in laboratory conditions. However, there is no statistical difference in athletic performance (exercise duration and VO2peak) between the groups.