MEDICINE PREVENTIVE SECTION   

Medicina dello Sport 2001 March;54(1):29-36

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Results of an epidemiological study to protect the health of young cyclists

Faina M. ¹, Fiorella P. L. ², Briglia S. ², Mirri G. ¹

¹ Federazione Ciclistica Italiana, Commissione Sanitaria Nazionale; ² Istituto di Medicina dello Sport CONI-FMSI, Bologna

Background. As suggested by the National Health Commission of the FCI, this study aimed to evaluate hymochromocytometric parameters in young cyclists in both the male and female 2nd year pupil (16 years) and 1st year juniores (17 years) categories.
Methods. Blood samples were collected in the morning of fasting from a total of 2031 athletes (1914 males and 117 females, approximately 80% of members) to assay the red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscle volume, hemoglobin cell content, hemoglobin cell concentration, extent of erythrocyte distribution, platelets, white blood cells, differential leukocyte count, percentage and absolute number of reticulocytes. The descriptive statistics (means±standard deviation, median, 2.5 and 97.5.-th percentiles) and the comparison between mean values (pupils vs juniores or males vs females) were determined, setting statistical significance at p<0.01/
Results. The values show that in the context of the racing cycling population, the subjects examined represent a non-risk category for artificial erythropoietic alterations.
Conclusions. The use of screening tests in a vast population of young cyclists enables alterations in hematic crasia to be rapidly identified, focusing on the preventive aspect of protecting the athletes’ health.