Assessment of differences in lung capacities and hemoglobin levels between professional athletes and healthy non-athlete individuals
Nazlı Zeynep Uslu1
, Ayşenur Gençalp2, Sercan Sakallı2, Yasin Seçkin2, İrem Karaman2, Sebahat Dilek Torun3, Merih Kalamanoğlu Balcı1
1Pulmonary Medicine Section, School of Medicine, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Türkiye
2School of Medicine, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Türkiye
3Public Health Section, School of Medicine, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Keywords: Lung capacities, hemoglobin, athletes
Abstract
Objective: Intense and regular exercise induces physiological adaptations that improve lung function. This study aims to compare the lung capacities of professional athletes and non-athlete healthy individuals.
Material and Methods: Age, height, weight, PFT and hemoglobin values of 59 adult athletes from four different branches (25 soccer, 19 basketball, 12 handball, three volleyball players) and 51 healthy non-athletes who applied for a yearly checkup clinic at a university hospital were obtained and compared.
Results: There was no significant difference in terms of age and weight of athletes and the control group. The athletes' forced expiratory volume 1 (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) values were significantly greater than the controls' (Respectively 4.86±0.66 L vs 4.58±0.66 L; p=0.02 and 5.87±0.98 L vs 5.40±0.82 L; p=0.008). There was no significant difference between the FEV1/FVC ratio of athletes and the control group (83.6%±7.7 vs 85.2%±5.8; p>0.05). Hemoglobin levels of the athletes were significantly lower than the control group (14.9±0.9 g/dl vs 15.2±0.8 g/dl; p=0.02).
Conclusion: Compared to non-athletes, professional athletes have considerably higher FEV1 and FVC values, likely resulting from intensive training. Athletes' lower hemoglobin values may be attributed to the physiological changes related to regular exercise. These findings further emphasize the necessity of interpreting athletes' PFTs within the athlete population by using personalized reference values, to prevent potential misdiagnoses.
Cite this article as: Uslu NZ, Gencalp A, Sakalli S, Karaman I, Torun SD, Kalamanoglu Balci M. Assessment of differences in lung capacities and hemoglobin levels between professional athletes and healthy non-athlete individuals.Turk J Sports Med. 2025 Oct 9th; https://doi.org/10.47447/tjsm.0902
The approval for this study was obtained from Bahcesehir University Clinical Research Ethics Committee, İstanbul, Türkiye (Decision no: 2023-22/04, Date: 27/12/2023).
Concept Design: NZU, İK; Supervision/ Consultancy: MKB; Materials: AG; Data Collection and Processing: SS, YS, AG; Analysis and Interpretation: İK, SDT; Literature Review: NZU, SDT, AG; Writing: SS, YS, AG, İK; Critical Review: MKB. All authors contributed to the final version of the manuscript and discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to authorship and/or publication of the article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or publication of this article.
