BACKGROUND: Physical fitness level (PFL), heart rate (HR), and HR recovery (HRR1) were expressed the physical performance of an individual which can be the excellent indicators of health. That parameter differentiates the physical condition between a smoker and a non-smoker. At present, studies about them for adolescent smokers and non-smokers are still limited. Furthermore, they can be the prediction of the health indicators in the future.
AIM: The aim of the study was to compare the PFL, HR, and HRR between adolescent smokers and non-smokers
METHODOLOGY: This study was conducted by non-experimental and quantitative research with descriptive comparative design and cross-sectional approach. Mann–Whitney test used to describe the distinction between the PFL of students who are adolescent smokers and adolescent non-smokers. The sample data consist of 65 participants selected by purposive sampling collected using Harvard step test and manual HR measurement.
RESULTS: After gathered data, we concluded that the PFL of adolescent non-smokers in our samples was significantly higher than smokers with recorded results of p = 0.001 (p < 0.05); HR1, HR60, HR90, and HR180 in adolescent smokers were higher than non-smokers with p = 0.00 (p < 0.05); there were no differences between HRR1 in adolescent smokers and non-smokers with p = 0.042 (p > 0.05). Smoking had effects on PFL and HR.
CONCLUSION: The PFL and HR in adolescent non-smokers were better than in smokers but it had no effect on HRR1.