Anthropometric data, CBF measurements, and diving activity in the total cohort, in the lake divers and in the warm sea divers sub-cohorts
| Diving activity | Total cohort (n = 215) | LK sub-cohort (n = 88) | WS sub-cohort (n = 32) | T value | Group differences, p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| †Body mass index (BMI) is defined as weight/height2; ‡fat mass (FM) is measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA); §values are means±SD; ¶Student’s t tests; *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001. | |||||
| Adjusted gCBF, global cerebral blood flow (adjusted for gender differences); AR, annual rate of dives from the listed parameters; DB40, total number of dives performed below 40 m; DS, total number of “standard” dives performed (that is above 40 m); DTot, total number of dives performed; 6m, number of dives performed during the last 6 months’ dives from the listed parameters; LK, lake divers; NY-D, number of years of scuba diving; WS, warm sea divers. | |||||
| Age (years) | 35.7±8.1§ | 34.2±7.5 | 34.5±9.3 | −0.11 | 0.19¶ |
| BMI† | 24.2±3.3 | 24.6±3.5 | 23.3±3.2 | 1.82 | 0.071 |
| FM‡ (kg) | 16.6±5.6 | 16.7±5.9 | 16.0±6.2 | 0.57 | 0.56 |
| FM‡ (%) | 22.3±6.0 | 21.9±6.1 | 22.7±6.9 | −0.66 | 0.504 |
| EDU | 14.7±3.0 | 14.7±3.2 | 16.2±3.4 | −2.08 | 0.039* |
| Adjusted gCBF | 0.3±7 | −0.1±1.0 | 0.4±1.1 | −2.25 | 0.026* |
| NY_D (years) | 6.6±5.1 | 7.0±5.1 | 6.1±7.3° | 0.76 | 0.446 |
| DTot | 350.3±323.6 | 441.3±413.6 | 208.0±224.3 | 2.88 | 0.005** |
| DS | 260.2±221.7 | 289.0±268.7 | 187.3±195.0 | 1.86 | 0.065 |
| DB40 | 90.1±157.4 | 152.3±220.3 | 20.7±39.7 | 3.19 | 0.002** |
| AR-DTot | 53.7±35.4 | 60.9±39.9 | 34.8±26.3 | 3.27 | 0.001** |
| AR-DS | 41.5±26.7 | 41.9±26.8 | 31.9±24.8 | 1.75 | 0.083 |
| AR-DB40 | 12.1±16.5 | 19.0±22.4 | 2.9±3.3° | 3.85 | <0.001*** |
| DTot-6m | 27.6±28.9 | 32.4±24.9 | 8.2±9.7 | 4.59 | <0.001*** |
| DS-6m | 20.1±24.0 | 21.8±18.3 | 7.1±8.7 | 4.13 | <0.001*** |
| DB40-6m | 7.3±10.4 | 10.5±12.8 | 0.8±1.5 | 3.97 | <0.001*** |