Key result
Elite football players show similar cardiac vagal index to non-athletes, but wingers score higher than defenders.
Why the study?
Does cardiac vagal index differ between elite football players and non-athletes, or among different field positions?
Cross-Sectional (n=545)
Does cardiac vagal index differ between elite football players and non-athletes, or among different field positions?
Absolute Event Rate: -1.63% vs 1.61%
p-value: p=0.22
Elite football players do not have a higher cardiac vagal index than non-athletes overall, but wingers exhibit higher vagal tone compared to defenders, potentially offering a hemodynamic advantage.
Vagal tone similarity does not alter athlete screening; leaves open positional autonomic differences for prospective study.
BACKGROUND: Cardiac vagal index (CVI) is supposedly higher in athletes and may differ between sports and/or between field positions.OBJECTIVE: To compare CVI: a) between elite football players vs. non-athletes and b) according to five football positions.METHOD: 242 football players of the first Brazilian/Angolan division were divided in five positions (N): goalkeepers (17), defenders (44), wingers (34), midfielders (87) and forwarders (60) and compared with 303 age-matched healthy non-athletes.CVI was estimated from a 4-second exercise test by quantifying the ratio of two cardiac cycle durations, before and at the end of a fast unloaded cycling exercise.RESULTS: Football players had resting and maximal heart rates of, respectively, 59 and 190 bpm and measured VO 2 max of 62.2 mL/(kg.min).Players and non-athletes showed similar CVI results (median-[P25-P75]) -1.63-[1.46-1.84]vs 1.61-[1.41-1.81](p = 0.22).Wingers tended to have a higher CVI (1.84-[1.60-1.99]),especially when compared to defenders (1.53-[1.41-1.72](p = 0.01).There was a modest non-physiologically relevant association between VO 2 max and CVI (r = 0.15).CONCLUSIONS: Football players did not differ from non-athletes in CVI; however, among players, wingers were more often vagotonic, which may represent a hemodynamic advantage for match situations, where rapid heart rate transitions and faster oxygen delivery to muscles are required.
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Araújo et al. (2018) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy (n=545). Elite football playing and specific field positions vs. Healthy non-athletes and other field positions was evaluated on Cardiac vagal index (CVI) (p=0.22). Elite male football players had a similar cardiac vagal index compared to age-matched non-athletes (p=0.22), although wingers had a significantly higher index than defenders (p=0.01).
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