THE EFFECTS OF BASKETBALL AND SOCCER TRAINING ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS

ABSTRACT Objective The purpose of this study was to examine arterial stiffness in elite basketball and soccer athletes by pulse wave velocity. Methods The cohort comprised 35 healthy male volunteers aged 17 to 26 years. All the subjects were either basketball players (n=9), soccer players (n=12) or sedentary controls (n=14). Arterial stiffness was measured by the Pulse Trace System (Micro Medical Ltd., Rochester, UK) and echocardiographic images were taken using a commercially available machine (Vivid 7 GE-Vingmed, Horten, Norway) with a 2.5 MHz transducer. Results The basketball players had significantly higher heights and body weights as compared to both the soccer players and the controls. The aortic elastic properties derived from the echocardiographic measurements did not differ between the groups. The peripheral pulse wave velocity measurements showed significantly lower values both in the basketball and soccer players compared to the controls, whereas the central pulse wave velocity measurement was significantly lower only in the basketball players as compared to the controls. No significant difference was seen between the basketball and soccer players. Conclusions The results of this study show that football and basketball exercises comprised of aerobic, anaerobic, endurance balance-coordination and sport-specific training play a role in reducing arterial stiffness. Level of evidence I; type of study: prognostic study.摘要 研究目的：本研究旨在通过脉搏波速度检测精英篮球运动员与足球运动员的动脉僵硬度。方法：本队列共纳入35名年龄17至26岁的健康男性志愿者，所有受试者分为篮球运动员组（n=9）、足球运动员组（n=12）与久坐对照组（n=14）。动脉僵硬度采用Pulse Trace System（英国罗切斯特Micro Medical有限公司）检测；超声心动图图像采集使用商用设备Vivid 7 GE-Vingmed（挪威霍滕），配备2.5 MHz探头。结果：相较于足球运动员组与对照组，篮球运动员的身高与体重均显著更高。各组间基于超声心动图测量得到的主动脉弹性特性无显著差异。外周脉搏波速度检测结果显示，篮球运动员与足球运动员的该指标均显著低于对照组；而中心脉搏波速度仅在篮球运动员组中显著低于对照组。篮球与足球运动员组间未观察到显著差异。结论：本研究结果表明，涵盖有氧、无氧、耐力、平衡协调及专项运动训练的足球与篮球运动，有助于降低动脉僵硬度。证据等级：I级；研究类型：预后研究。