EXERCISE-INDUCED BRONCHOCONSTRICTION IN THE ICE RINK

Abstract

Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is alarmingly high among ice arena athletes and may be related to high exercise ventilation rates of cold, dry air and/or rink air pollutants. Previous observations of this population demonstrate postexercise mid-expiratory flow rates (FEF25-75) are more impaired than other pulmonary function (PF) measurements, suggesting that postexercise FEF25-75 may be useful in identifying peripheral airway hyperreactivity. However, resting PFs of skaters have not been fully evaluated. PURPOSE To determine if resting PFs are useful in identifying airway dysfunction in ice rink athletes. METHODS National Team female ice hockey players (N = 44) served as subjects and were grouped according to observed EIB symptoms and medical history as symptomatic (S; N = 17) or asymptomatic (A; N = 27). Resting, baseline PFs were obtained for all subjects and raw data were converted to percent of age, height and gender based predicted values. RESULTS Baseline FEV1, FEF25-75, and FEV1/FVC were significanly different between S and A (102 ± 13 vs. 118 ± 15, 75 ± 22 vs. 119 ± 24, and 78 ± 8 vs. 88 ± 4, respectively; p < 0.05); FVC and PEF were not different. Within S, FEV1 was different than FEF25-75 (p < 0.05); no other within group differences were identified. Ten S athletes had below normal FEV1/FVC; Nine had below normal FEF25-75. CONCLUSION FEV1/FVC and FEF25-75 obtained from baseline spirometry may be diagnostic of airway dysfunction. This data suggests the presence of peripheral airway inflammation in S ice arena athletes, which may be caused by chronic exposure to cold, dry air and/or internal combustion pollutants emitted from ice resurfacing machines. Supported by Marywood University and the United States Olympic Committe.