RT journal article
T1 Aerobic fitness is a potential crucial factor in protecting paralympic athletes with locomotor impairments from atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk
A1 Bernardi, M.
A1 Romano, Silvio
A1 Squeo, Maria Rosaria
A1 Guerra, Emanuele
A1 Adami, Paolo Emilio
A1 Alviti, Federica
A1 Mattei, Antonella
A1 Corsi, Loretta
A1 Lanzano, Riccardo
A1 Curatulo, Pietro Giacomo
A1 Mandolesi, Dimitri
A1 Parisi, Fabiana
A1 Di Giacinto, Barbara
A1 Dante, Donatella
A1 Marini, Claudio
A1 Mashkovskiy, Evgeny
A1 Ordóñez Muñoz, Francisco Javier
A1 Spataro, Antonio
A2 Anatomía y Embriología Humana
K1 Cardiovascular primary prevention
K1 Paralympic sports
K1 Spinal cord injury
K1 Lower limb amputation
K1 VO2peak
AB PurposeTo test the hypothesis that aerobic fitness is inversely related to the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACVD) in athletes with locomotor impairments deriving from health conditions, such as spinal cord injury (SCI), lower limb amputation, cerebral palsy, poliomyelitis, and other health conditions different from the previous ones.MethodsA total of 68 male athletes who competed in either summer or winter Paralympic games were divided in two health conditions groups (35 with SCI, mean age 37.28.0 years, and 33 with different health conditions, mean age 37.89.9 years) and in four sport type groups (skill, power, intermittent-mixed metabolism-and endurance). They were evaluated through anthropometric and blood pressure measurements, laboratory blood tests, and graded cardiopulmonary maximal arm cranking exercise test, with oxygen uptake peak (VO2peak) measurement. Cardiovascular risk profile was assessed in each athlete.ResultsThe prevalence of ACVD-risk factors in the overall population was 20.6% for hypertension; 47% and 55.9% for high values of total and LDL cholesterol, respectively; 22.1% for reduce glucose tolerance; and 8.8% for obesity. No difference was found between athletes with and without SCI, while the prevalence of obesity was significantly higher in those practicing skill sports (22.7%, p=0.035), which was the sport type group with Paralympic athletes with the lowest VO2peak (22.5 +/- 5.70 ml kg(-1) min(-1)). VO2peak was lower in athletes with SCI than those with different health conditions (28.6 +/- 10.0 vs 33.6 +/- 8.9 ml kg(-1) min(-1)p=0.03), and in those with 3-4 risk factors (19.09 +/- 5.34 ml kg(-1) min(-1)) than those with 2 risk factors (27.1 +/- 5.50 ml kg(-1) min(-1)), 1 risk factor (31.6 +/- 8.55 ml kg(-1) min(-1)), or none (36.4 +/- 8.76 ml kg(-1) min(-1)) (p<0.001).ConclusionsThe present study suggests that having higher VO2peak seems to offer greater protection against ACVD in individuals with a locomotor impairment. Prescribing physical exercise at an intensity similar to that of endurance and intermittent sports should become a fundamental tool to promote health among people with a locomotor impairment.
PB SPRINGERNATURE
SN 1824-7490
YR 2021
FD 2021-06
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/25656
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/25656
LA eng
NO Open access funding provided by Universita degli Studi dell'Aquila within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 12-nov-2026