title: An exploratory study of cardiac health in college athletes.
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 VO(2max)) 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.
authors.affiliation: University of the Incarnate Word, Box 300, San Antonio, TX 78209, USA. lrmunoz@uiwtx.edu
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Norgan
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rauschhuber
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Allwein
authors.forename: Brent W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gilliland
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beltz
authors.forename: Marveen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahon
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mikan
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Jolynn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lowry
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Renee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sethness
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Etnyre
authors.forename: Mary Elaine
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013177:Sports; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities