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

 

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

Hadrien Pique 2, Sigrid Theunissen 2, Costantino Balestra 1,2,3,4,5, Juani Valdivia 1, Oleg Melikhov 1

1 Association Internationnale pour le Développement de l'Apnée, AIDA International, Rue de l'Athénée 4, C/O Mentha Avocats, CH-1211 Genève 12, Switzerland

2           Environmental, Occupational, Aging (Integrative) Physiology Laboratory, Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant (HE2B), 1160 Brussels

3           Anatomical Research and Clinical Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), 1090 Brussels, Belgium

4           DAN Europe Research Division (Roseto-Brussels), Brussels, Belgium

5           Motor Sciences Department, Physical Activity Teaching Unit, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Running head:

Prematurity among freedivers.

Contact details of corresponding author

Oleg Melikhov: +34 661 757 437 AIDA International, c/o Mentha Avocats, Rue de l'Athenee 4, Switzerland; melikhov.oleg@gmail.com ORCID 0000-0001-9442-7707

Funding details

This work was supported by Association Internationnale pour le Développement de l'Apnée (AIDA, Rue de l'Athénée 4, C/O Mentha Avocats, CH-1211 Genève 12, Switzerland) under grant s/n.

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

RUNNING HEAD: PREMATURITY AMONG FREEDIVERS

ABSTRACT

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 pCO2 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: from 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.

Key words

apnea; extreme environments; hypercapnia; lung function; physiology; prematurity.

Key points

Preterm birth has been reported to significantly impair the functional and anatomical development of the respiratory system. Prematurity has been recently connected to changes in hypercapnic reactions at adult age. Supposed higher resistance to pCO2 in prematurely born subjects may influence breath-hold underwater exercise (breath-hold diving).

 

DOI:10.22462/685