Abstract
BackgroundAnemia has been implicated in adverse health outcomes of athletes and military trainees, ranging from overuse injuries to degraded physical and cognitive performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate prevalence of anemia among US Air Force (USAF) basic trainees, to compare physical performance and discharge rates between anemic and non-anemic trainees, and to determine the risks and relative risks of being discharged for anemic versus non-anemic women and men.MethodsAll USAF basic trainees were screened for anemia between July 2013 and January 2014, during an 8-week basic training course at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, TX. Age, sex, screening hemoglobin, anthropometric measurements, initial/final physical fitness assessment scores, and discharge data were collected from trainees. Those identified as anemic (hemoglobin <13.5 g/dL for males and <12.0 g/dL for females) received additional labwork, nutritional counseling, and oral iron-replacement, if indicated. Mean percent improvement was calculated for all performance parameters from beginning to end of training. Anemic trainees were compared to non-anemic trainees by t test with Welch modification. Results were stratified by sex and anemia severity with post-hoc Bonferroni correction.ResultsPrevalence of anemia was 12.6 % (N = 18,827). Respective prevalence of borderline, moderate, and severe anemia was 12.6, 10.9, and 1.9 % for females and 4.8, 3.8, and 0.3 % for males. Mean 1.5-mile run-time, push-up and sit-up counts improved from beginning to end of training for both anemic and non-anemic trainees (p < 0.001 both). Non-anemic trainees had slightly greater run-time improvements than borderline and moderate anemics (female: 17.7 vs. 15.2, and 15.1 % improvement, p < 0.05 both; male: 14.9 vs. 13.2, and 13.5 % improvement, p < 0.05 both). One-way ANOVA demonstrated statistically significant differences between initial and final fitness data for all measures and both genders (p < 0.001) with the exception of final sit-up counts for male trainees (p = 0.082). Discharge rate for anemic trainees was 9.0 % (20 % for severely anemic trainees) as compared to 5.7 % for non-anemics.ConclusionsAnemia was prevalent among USAF basic trainees. Identification and treatment of anemia may optimize physical performance and decrease the rate of medical discharge.
Highlights
Anemia has been implicated in adverse health outcomes of athletes and military trainees, ranging from overuse injuries to degraded physical and cognitive performance
– Anemic female and male trainees had longer initial average run times, fewer push-ups and fewer sit-ups than non-anemic trainees (p < 0.001); that statistical difference persisted through the end of training especially for run-times, but less discrepancy was seen for push-up and sit-up values
Anemia Definition and Classification Subjects were defined as anemic utilizing the World Health Organization standards [24] for Hgb measured in grams per deciliter (g/dL): less than 12.0 g/dL for women and less than 13.5 g/dL for men
Summary
Anemia has been implicated in adverse health outcomes of athletes and military trainees, ranging from overuse injuries to degraded physical and cognitive performance. Iron-deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia have been associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, including musculoskeletal overuse injuries [16], impaired immune function [22], and psychological sequelae such as diminished cognitive performance [12] and depressed mood [21]. Iron supplementation in these populations may mitigate these conditions and improve performance. Iron supplementation of persons with iron-deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia yielded improvement in biochemical laboratory values and reduction of exercise-induced fatigue and increased work capacity [11]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.