Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Agopyan A. (Yürütücü), Tekin D.
Yükseköğretim Kurumları Destekli Proje, 2017 - 2017
Introduction: The
influence of physical activity on the development of the respiratory system is
a matter for ongoing debate. The intensity and volume of involvement by
athletes in sporting activity would appear to determine the extent of
strengthening of the inspiratory muscles, with resultant increase in pulmonary
functions. Unquestionably, there are important differences
between male and female in the respiratory response to both short-term
and long-term exercise. From the available recorded studies, while such
gender differences have been highlighted, many basic questions remain
unanswered. For example, within the field of athletic performance, gender
differences could impact on training and competition strategies. Modern
dancers are considered as athletes at certain times. In general, male and
female modern dancers adhere to similar technical training regimes, but measurement
of their pulmonary function has not been widely investigated. Therefore,
the aim of this study was to compare the resting pulmonary function between
male and female modern dancers, based on the same level of training.
Methods: Thirty-eight modern dancers (18 male, 20 female) volunteered
to participate in this study. Participants were university level modern dancers
(age=23.65±3.12 years). Their exercise level (3 days/week, 3 hours/day) and
training history (at least 4 years) were
similar. All participants were healthy, non-smokers and had no
previous history of cardio-pulmonary disease. Participants with less
than 80% forced expired volume in one second (FEV1) to forced vital
capacity (FVC) ratio were excluded from this study. All female dancers
were tested randomly throughout the menstrual cycle. Basic anthropometric
measurements (height and body weight) were obtained from participants. Pulmonary
function was assessed by measuring the tidal volume (TV), Maximum Voluntary
Ventilation (MVV), Vital Capacity (VC), FVC, FEV1, percent of FEV1
(FEV1%), forced expiratory ratio (FER = FEV1/FVC), peak
expiratory flow (PEF), Forced Expiratory Flow between 25% and 75% of Vital
Capacity (FEF25–75%) and Expiratory Reserve Volume (ERV). The
measurements were taken with a computerized spirometer (MIR, Spirobank,
Italy) in a sitting position, based on recommendations of the American Thoracic
Society guidelines. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to assess the significance
of the differences between groups. Results were considered significant at
p<0.05.
Results & Discussion: Mann-Whitney U-test results revealed
significant differences (p<0.05) for values of MVV, VC, FVC, FEV1, PEF,
FEF25–75% and ERV between genders. The values for male dancers were higher than
female dancers. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the other
parameters (TV, FEV1%, FER) measured.
Conclusion: Based on
this study data, performance of resting pulmonary function of male and female dancers with
the same training level were found to be significantly different. This
suggests possible benefits could be achieved from the development of a
gender-based dance training program. However, results should be considered
as only preliminary and confirmation or otherwise is required by way of future
studies based on larger sample size. To fully address questions of
gender-based differences in pulmonary performance, future such studies
involving modern dancers should consider pulmonary structure and function,
during resting and dynamic exercise.