Comparison of spirometric parameters in athletes engaged in aerobic and anaerobic sports: a cross-sectional study

Pulmonary function tests are better among athletes than non-athletes. The spirometry parameters may vary among athletes involved in aerobic and anaerobic sports. This study aims to study the difference in spirometry parameters among aerobic and anaerobic sports athletes.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 131 professional athletes. A convenience sampling technique was used. The data were collected from April to November 2022 using a proforma form, entered into Microsoft Excel, and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16.

Out of 131 total participants, 65 were involved in aerobic sports, while 66 were in anaerobic sports. The mean age of the participants was 27.34±5 years, the majority being male (n=104). Aerobic athletes had higher differences in forced vital capacity (1.19%, P=0.726) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (3.08%, P=0.315), the difference was not statistically significant. Statistically significantly higher difference in forced expiratory flow at 25-75% (13.42%, P=0.001), forced expiratory flow at 0.2-1.2 l/s (7.47%, P=0.035), and maximum voluntary ventilation (8.58%, P=0.023) values were observed among aerobic athletes.

Aerobic and anaerobic athletes had no statistically significant difference in forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in the first second; however, other spirometry parameters were comparatively better in aerobic athletes.