Spirometric parameters and their relationship to body mass index across sport specializations in male student athletes: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Spirometric parameters are sensitive to the type and volume of habitual physical training, yet comparative data across different sports in non-elite student athletes, particularly in relation to body mass index (BMI), remain limited. Aims: To compare computer-assisted spirometric parameters in male university students engaged in different sports and to evaluate their associations with BMI. Methods: Thirty male university students were compared across three groups by sport specialization: mini-football (n=8), basketball (n=10), and cycling (n=12). External respiration was assessed by computer spirometry (PC Spirometry Set, Switzerland); FVC, IRV, ERV, VC, MVV, and TV were analyzed. Group differences were tested with the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn's post-hoc test (Holm correction); associations with body mass index (BMI) were assessed by Spearman correlation. Physiologically implausible values were excluded before analysis. Result: Maximal voluntary ventilation differed significantly between groups (p = 0.004): it was lowest in basketball players, who differed significantly from both mini-football and cyclic-sport athletes. Tidal volume also differed (p = 0.026), being higher in cyclic-sport athletes than in basketball players. Differences in vital capacity showed only a non-significant trend (p = 0.055), and FVC, IRV, and ERV did not differ between groups. BMI showed no statistically significant correlation with any spirometric parameter (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: In male student athletes, ventilatory indices — particularly maximal voluntary ventilation and tidal volume — differed by sport specialization, with the lowest values in basketball players, whereas BMI was not associated with spirometric parameters. The absence of a BMI–spirometry association is consistent with the limited value of BMI as a body-composition marker in athletes, and sport specialization should be taken into account when interpreting spirometry in this population.