Blood Pressure and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy During American-Style Football Participation
Key result
A single season of collegiate American-style football participation significantly increased systolic blood pressure (116 to 125 mm Hg; P<0.001) and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy in linemen.
Why the study?
Does a single season of American-style football participation increase blood pressure and left ventricular hypertrophy in collegiate athletes?
Population
113 first-year university American-style football athletes
Comparison
A single season of competitive American-style… vs Baseline (pre-season assessment)
Design
Cohort
Follow-up
a single season
Authors
Discussion
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Implication
May support BP and LV monitoring in collegiate linemen; leaves open reversibility and long-term outcomes.
Key Points
- To investigate blood pressure changes, hypertension incidence, and left ventricular remodeling in collegiate American-style football athletes across a single competitive season.
- Conducted a prospective, longitudinal study across 6 consecutive cohorts of first-year collegiate American-style football athletes (n=113).
- Evaluated resting blood pressure and echocardiographic measures of left ventricular structure before and after one competitive season.
- Systolic BP increased from 116±8 to 125±13 mm Hg and diastolic BP increased from 64±8 to 66±10 mm Hg (both P<0.001), with postseason prehypertension in 47% (53/113) and stage 1 hypertension in 14% (16/113) of athletes.
- Lineman field position, intraseason weight gain, and family history of hypertension independently predicted postseason BP, with linemen demonstrating an increase in concentric left ventricular hypertrophy from 3% (2/64) to 31% (20/64) (P<0.001).
- Intraseason changes in left ventricular mass significantly correlated with increases in systolic BP (R=0.46, P<0.001).
Study Design
Type
Cohort (n=113)
Structured PICO
Does a single season of American-style football participation increase blood pressure and left ventricular hypertrophy in collegiate athletes?
P
Population
113 first-year university American-style football athletes
I
Intervention
A single season of competitive American-style football participation
C
Comparator
Baseline (pre-season assessment)
O
Outcome
Blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), incidence of hypertension, and left ventricular remodelingsurrogate
Main Result
Absolute Event Rate: 125% vs 116%
p-value: p=<0.001
Collegiate American-style football participation is associated with significant increases in blood pressure and left ventricular hypertrophy over a single season.
Cite This Study
Weiner et al. (2013) conducted a cohort in Collegiate American-style football athletes (n=113). Competitive American-style football participation vs. Pre-season baseline was evaluated on Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) (p=<0.001). A single season of collegiate American-style football participation significantly increased systolic blood pressure (116 to 125 mm Hg; P<0.001) and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy in linemen.