RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Risk factors associated with acute respiratory illnesses in athletes: a systematic review by a subgroup of the IOC consensus on ‘acute respiratory illness in the athlete’
JF British Journal of Sports Medicine
JO Br J Sports Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
SP 639
OP 650
DO 10.1136/bjsports-2021-104795
VO 56
IS 11
A1 Wayne Derman
A1 Marelise Badenhorst
A1 Maaike Eken
A1 Josu Gomez-Ezeiza
A1 Jane Fitzpatrick
A1 Maree Gleeson
A1 Lovemore Kunorozva
A1 Katja Mjosund
A1 Margo Mountjoy
A1 Nicola Sewry
A1 Martin Schwellnus
YR 2022
UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/56/11/639.abstract
AB Objective To review risk factors associated with acute respiratory illness (ARill) in athletes, including non-infectious ARill and suspected or confirmed acute respiratory infections (ARinf).Design Systematic review.Data sources Electronic databases: PubMed-Medline, EbscoHost and Web of Science.Eligibility criteria Original research articles published between January 1990 and July 2020 in English were searched for prospective and retrospective full text studies that reported quantitative data on risk factors associated with ARill/ARinf in athletes, at any level of performance (elite/non-elite), aged 15–65 years.Results 48 studies (n=19 390 athletes) were included in the study. Risk factors associated with ARill/ARinf were: increased training monotony, endurance training programmes, lack of tapering, training during winter or at altitude, international travel and vitamin D deficits. Low tear-(SIgA) and salivary-(IgA) were immune biomarkers associated with ARill/ARinf.Conclusions Modifiable training and environmental risk factors could be considered by sports coaches and athletes to reduce the risk of ARill/ARinf. Clinicians working with athletes can consider assessing and treating specific nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin D. More research regarding the role and clinical application of measuring immune biomarkers in athletes at high risk of ARill/ARinf is warranted.PROSPERO registration number CRD42020160928.