Exercise induced bronchospasm in physically fit female students of Kerman University and their pulmonary function tests

Introduction: High prevalence of respiratory symptoms and bronchial hyper-responsiveness has been reported in professionals athletes, particularly in relation to climate and environment. However, the airway response to exercise in active population has been poorly investigated especially in women. The aim of this study was to examine pulmonary function test changes in physically fit female students of Kerman University.

Methods: Sixty physically fit female students (19 ± 1.12 years old) were randomly selected out of 500 students. Each subject underwent the physical fitness test (Couper test) of the maximal distance running in 12 min. The exercise induced bronchospasm (EIB) symptoms including coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, dyspnea, previously diagnosed asthma and allergy, the use of anti-asthmatics medication and the family history of asthma were recorded using a questionnaire. Pulmonary function tests including; forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and maximal expiratory flow at 50% of the FVC (MEF(50)) were measured at rest (baseline), immediately, 5, and 15 min after an exercise test.

Result: The result of this study showed that the prevalence of the symptoms of EIB was 40.0%. There was not any significant difference in baseline PFT values between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. However, All PFT values of symptomatic subjects were significantly lower than asymptomatic immediately after exercise (p < 0.05 to p < 0.01). In addition, PFT values were significantly reduced in all times intervals for the symptomatic subjects (p < 0.05 to p < 0.01).

Conclusion: The results showed a high prevalence of respiratory symptoms and EIB in healthy female students.