Elsevier

Applied Nursing Research

Volume 22, Issue 4, November 2009, Pages 228-235
Applied Nursing Research

Original Article
An exploratory study of cardiac health in college athletes

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2008.02.008Get rights and content

Abstract

A common assumption is that college athletes are healthy based on their age and level of physical activity. This study used a descriptive correlational design to explore relationships and predictors of physical fitness levels among an ethnically diverse sample of 135 college athletes from a National College Athletic Association Division II university. Both subjective and objective indices of cardiac health and physical fitness level (blood pressure [BP], body mass index [BMI], waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, hip circumference, blood lipids, glucose, and VO2max) were collected. Minimal research exists with this population or with such an array of subjective and objective measures. More than one fourth of the athletes had a BMI in the overweight range, one fifth was prehypertensive, and one fourth had lower-than-recommended high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. Waist circumference accounted for 21% of the variance in systolic BP level. These factors may predispose the college athletes to cardiac risk in the future when exercise regimens are reduced. Gender differences were found in all physical size variables and in physical fitness levels, with physical fitness level alone predicting gender correctly 98.5% of the time. Differences support the need to account for gender and fitness levels in cardiac risk assessment of young populations.

Section snippets

Study purpose

The purposes of this exploratory study of college athletes were the following: (a) to determine the relationship of indices of cardiac health and levels of physical fitness; (b) to examine physical fitness levels and cardiac indices by gender; and (c) to determine which indices of cardiac health (body mass index [BMI], waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, hip circumference, blood lipids level, glucose level, and physical fitness level) are the best predictors of blood pressure (BP) level.

Research design

The study used a descriptive correlational design to explore relationships and predictors of physical fitness levels among a sample of college athletes.

Setting

The setting for the study was a private Catholic university in the southwest United States, classified as a National College Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II institution. Approximately 2,500 undergraduate students are enrolled in the university, which is a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution. The campus wellness center

What are the demographic characteristics, objective indices of cardiac health, and physical fitness levels among college athletes?

Table 1 describes the sports participation of the sample. Most college athletes were freshmen or sophomores (n = 84; 62%), Caucasian (n = 65; 48%) or Hispanic (n = 49; 36%), single (n = 131; 97%), born in the United States (n = 117; 87%), and participating in an organized campus sport. Almost two thirds (n = 80; 59%) were female; the mean age was 20 years, ranging from 17 to 25 years.

Table 2 presents results of objective screening for cardiac health indices and physical fitness levels. A number

Discussion

This exploratory study described a group of ethnically diverse college athletes at an NCAA Division II university. The sample of college athletes participated in a variety of sports. Almost three fourths of the athletes reported exercising outside of their sports two to three times or more each week, indicating a physically active sample of college athletes.

Although most athletes in this study had few objective cardiac risk factors, a proportion had elevated systolic BP levels in the

References (34)

  • Department of Health and Human Services

    The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) (DHHS No. 0938-0086)

    (1988)
  • M. Gulati et al.

    Exercise capacity and risk of death in women

    Circulation

    (2003)
  • W. Hlaing et al.

    Assessing overweight and cardiovascular risks among college students

    American Journal of Health Education

    (2007)
  • M.F. Howard-Hamilton et al.

    How college affects student athletes

    New Directions for Student Services

    (2001)
  • S.S. Hudd et al.

    Stress at college: Effects on health habits, health status and self-esteem

    College Student Journal

    (2000)
  • M.M. Kato et al.

    The relation between body fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with schizophrenia: A cross-sectional pilot study

    Primary Care Companion Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

    (2005)
  • M. Kilpatrick et al.

    College students' motivation for physical activity: Differentiating men's and women's motives for sport participation and exercise

    Journal of American College Health

    (2005)
    • View full text
    Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.