Adverse Respiratory Health Effects of Competitive Swimming: The Prevalence of Symptoms and Illnesses in a Cohort of 738 Swimmers.

The determinants of prevalence of health complaints among young competitive swimmers

“…In British Columbia, Potts (Potts 1994) found, using a questionnaire, a 13.4% prevalence of asthma diagnosed by a physician in 738 competitive swimmers and 20.6% for those doing high level swimming. Also, 27% and 23% of the swimmers, respectively, said that they had fits of coughing and wheezing during their swimming sessions.…”

“…Despite some methodological differences that affect comparisons, several studies have shown higher prevalences of asthma (Helenius et al 1998a, Langdeau et al 2000, Potts 1994, Weiler et al 1998, Weiler and Ryan 2000 and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) (Helenius et al 1998a, Helenius et al 1998b, Langdeau et al 2000, Potts 1994, Zwick et al 1990) in athletes than in the general population. Among athletes, even if there are some conflicting results (Langdeau et al 2000), swimmers seem more at risk of having asthma (Helenius et al 1998a, Helenius et al 1998b, Weiler et al 1998.…”

“…The self-administered questionnaire was developed from questionnaires used by Potts (Potts 1994) and by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC 1998). The swimmers and soccer players were mainly asked about respiratory or irritative symptoms that they generally felt when they practiced, such as cough, lung congestion, expectoration, sneezing, wheezing, breathing difficulties, throat and eye irritation, and headache.…”

Occupational asthma caused by chloramines in indoor swimming-pool air

“…It is possible that nitrogen trichloride is a much more general cause of asthma. In a questionnairebased survey of 738 competitive swimmers, a high prevalence of respiratory symptoms was noted, including sneezing (45%), breathing difficulty (39.4%), coughing (36.4%), sore eyes (36%), wheezing (26.3%), chest tightness (34.8%) and chest congestion (22.8%) [12]. Nearly 21% of swimmers who swam at international level reported asthma.…”

“…Nearly 21% of swimmers who swam at international level reported asthma. POTTS [12] compared bronchial responsiveness to methacholine in 35 competitive swimmers and 16 nonswimming athletes and found that w60% of competitive swimmers demonstrated increased bronchial responsiveness to methacholine (provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in the FEV1 v16 mg?mL -1 ), while only 12.5% of nonswimmers had similar results. Among the competitive swimmers, the prevalence of bronchial responsiveness was similar in those swimmers who had asthma and/or exercise symptoms suggestive of asthma (61.1%) to those who had neither asthma nor symptoms (58.8%).…”