Peak Flow Measurements in Professional Football Players

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Introduction: At training camp for the 1996 NFL Philadelphia Eagles, there was an athlete who suffered acute reactive airway disease. Peak flow measurements at the time of acute exacerbation and obvious respiratory distress were notable for being over 600, well within the normal range for this player's height and age. An extensive review of the literature revealed no prior published reports of peak flow measurements of professional football players in the United States. Watson describes pulmonary function in Irish soccer players, and Van Handel, et al. Studied pulmonary function in Olympic athletes. The purpose of this study was to determine the normative values of peak flow and pulmonary function tests in a population of NFL players, and to determine the difference, if any, with standard values. The corollary clinical aspect is that if the normative values are different, are we missing RAD in the population? Methods: The population is NFL Philadelphia Eagles 1996 entire roster, 70 players. Hand held peak flow measurements x 3 were recorded and pulmonary function measurements (FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, FEF25-75, PEFR) using the same machine by Respi-Tech and the same technician were recorded. Predicted and percent predicted were derived based on the standard equation using sex, age and height. Mean values were determined for this population (minus the seven players with history of RAD). Body mass index and peak flow measurements and pulmonary function tests were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis for statistical significance. A prior study by Gary and McShane showed that the players could be divided into three groups by BMI: quarterbacks, running backs and cornerbacks (herein, “SKILL”); tight ends, defensive ends, and linebackers (herein, “LB/TE”); and offensive and defensive linemen (herein, “LINE”). Mean values of peak flows by these positions were also determined and analyzed for statistical significance. Results:TableBy Pearson correlation analysis, an inverse linear relation was found between BMI and FEV1/FVC with p < .05. No other statistically significant correlation between BMI and FEV1, FVC, FEF25-75, PEFR, or hand held peak flow measurements were found.TableThere was no statistical significant relationship between position grouping and pulmonary function as determined by Pearson correlation analysis. Discussion: Despite the large height and athletic prowess of this population, their peak flow measurements were not different than normative values. Actually, all of the percent predicted values were less than 100%. Should we determine norms for this unique population by testing more athletes of this size? Perhaps standard pulmonary function equations can not apply to this population and new equations need to be derived. There were differences in pulmonary function based on position grouping by BMI, however it was not statistically significant. Since there are few measures of “fitness” in elite athletes, could pulmonary function be a measure. In this specific athletic group this may have an impact on recruiting US football players at many levels.