Paper
Friday, 21 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Strategies to Improve Adult Health
A Pilot Study of Indices of Cardiac Risk Among College Athletes
Gary H. Norgan, PhD, RN, MSN1, Maureen Rauchhuber, PhD, RN, C1, Irene Gilliland, MSN, CNS2, David Allwein, BSN3, and Brent W. Powell, MAA4. (1) School of Nursing and the Health Professions, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX, USA, (2) School of Nursing and Health Professions, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX, USA, (3) Student Health Services, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX, USA, (4) Dept of Human Performance, School of Nursing and the Health Professions, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX, USA
Learning Objective #1: discuss the relationship between health risk status, activity level, aggression, and spirituality of student athletes.
Learning Objective #2: compare student athletes with non-athletic college student samples with regard to health risk status, aggression, and spirituality.
A Pilot Study of Indices of Cardiac Risk Among College Athletes
A significant body of research supports the insidious relationship between obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiac risk, and the importance of physical exercise to prevent cardiac disease.  Most studies examine adult, white and/or black populations.  Studies of college student populations suggest that a significant proportion of students have two or more indices of cardiac risk; studies of student athletes have focused primarily on issues surrounding sudden cardiac arrest or sudden death (Lyznicki, Nielsen, & Schneider, 2000).  Assessment of health status, and cardiovascular health of athletes has been influenced and often neglected because of assumptions of health status based on athletic prowess (Clark, 2002).   Objective assessment of physical fitness and the relationship to other cardiovascular risks is understudied among college students.
This study used a descriptive correlational design to describe objective measures of BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, blood lipids and glucose, and VO2 max and subjective reports of physical activity among a sample of 24 student basketball athletes at a southwestern university.   The majority were 20 years of age, juniors or seniors, with a mean BMI of 24 and a mean blood pressure of 118/73 mmHg.  Nine athletes had BMIs greater than 25, in the overweight category; five were female; four were male. Seven athletes had systolic blood pressures greater than 120 mmHg; one male athlete was hypertensive and untreated; six had diastolic blood pressures in the 80 to 90 mmHg range, suggestive of need for lifestyle interventions.  VO2 max indicated a higher level of fitness compared to normative samples of non-athlete college students.  Age was significantly correlated with diastolic blood pressure (r=.46; p=.05); BMI was correlated with waist circumference (r=.56; p=.01).  More research is needed to determine health prevention needs of athletes in order to teach lifestyle intervention strategies.

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