Higher proportion of prematurely born adults in elite breath-hold divers.

INTRODUCTION

Preterm birth may significantly impair the functional and anatomical development of the respiratory system and could be a background for various life-long medical sequelae. Prematurity has been recently connected to changes in hypercapnic reactions at adult age. Altered reactions to pCO in premature-born subjects may impact breath-hold underwater exercises (freediving) results.

METHODS

AIDA International provided the list of top-100 rankings freediving athletes for the years 2016- 2021 with their personal best results. Data was collected using a subject questionnaire developed for the study (subject-reporting outcomes).

PERIOD OF DATA COLLECTION

March 2022 to June 2022.

RESULTS

Within the sample of divers (n=146), 17.1% (n=25) were born prematurely. 13.7% (n=20) were moderate to late preterm, and 3.4% (n=6) were very preterm. The proportion of the athletes whose birth was premature was 18.1% for females and 16.2% for males. These figures are higher than the standardized estimated mean of the preterm birth rate of 8.5% calculated based on the geographical distribution of our sample. There was no difference in best personal results in freediving between the preterm and full-term elite freedivers.

CONCLUSIONS

The proportion of preterm within the elite freedivers is higher than could be estimated for the general population. There is no difference in best personal results between preterm and full-term elite freedivers.