Monitoring oxygen uptake, blood lactate and heart rate in swimmers with impairments: A systematic review

Physiological parameters give an indication of the potential swimming performance. Studies regarding swimmers with impairments which gather information on physiological parameters are scarce. The aim of this study was to summarize the results of studies involving oxygen uptake, blood lactate and heart rate in swimming protocols for swimmers with physical impairments. A comprehensive search of the literature was performed on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and EBSCO for complete studies between database inception and May 22nd, 2023. Ten studies (n = 142) fulfilled the inclusion criteria (including swimmers with physical impairments that monitor oxygen uptake, blood lactate and heart rate responses). A numerical summary and a narrative description of the results in relation to the research eligibility criteria were summarized. The risk of bias was assessed by Quality Assessment Checklist. In swimming protocols, swimmers with a lower functional impact of the impairment to perform sport-specific tasks showed higher oxygen uptake and blood lactate than those with a higher impact (6 studies, n = 79). The highest concentrations of blood lactate were reached in maximal anaerobic tests, followed by maximal aerobic tests (7 studies, n = 98). The relative heart rate was close to 90% in most cases (8 studies, n = 83). The studies also showed great variability in the physiological parameters concerning the categories or classifications of swimmers with physical impairments. The oxygen uptake, blood lactate concentration and relative heart rate assessments should consider functionalities and absences according to specific morphophysiological impairment.