Abstract

Background: The type of sports and the training and regular exercises make athletes to have an increase in pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters. Intensity and severity of sports performed by the athletes usually determine the extent of strengthening of the inspiratory muscles and the alveolar size with a resultant increase in the lung functions. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to study the PFTs in male swimmers, marathoners, cricket players, and kabaddi players and to compare the same with matched sedentary control group.
Materials and Methods: In this study, PFTs such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV), and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) parameters were studied in 46 swimmers, marathoners, cricket players, and kabaddi players in the age group of 18-25 years. These parameters were compared with matched apparently normal healthy sedentary medical students using unpaired t-test.
Results: In this study, a significant increase was observed in PFT parameters of swimmers, marathoners, cricket players, and kabaddi players than sedentary controls. The study group had a higher mean of percentage value of FVC, FEV1, MVV, and PEFR than controls. However, swimmers (P < 0.0001) had highest pulmonary parameters than marathoners, cricket players, and kabaddi players (<0.05). Conclusion: This study shows that PFTs were higher among sportsmen compared to sedentary controls. This shows the positive effect of training on respiratory system. In addition to this, the difference of PFTs between different sports types shows that the sports branch influences the pulmonary capacity.