Nearly half of NCAA Division I female athletes have elevated BP
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Nearly half of women who participated in NCAA Division I athletics had elevated BP or stage I or stage II hypertension, according to a study presented at the virtual American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
Abnormal BP was most prevalent among women who played softball and not at all prevalent in gymnasts.
According to the researchers, there has been a recent uptick in pressure on universities to evaluate collegiate athletes for CV risk factors such as elevated BP before participation in athletics.
After analyzing medical evaluation data of 329 female Division I athletes from the University of Florida, Gainesville, and the University of Georgia, researchers found that 47% of participants had above-average BP levels. Among athletes with abnormal BP, 61% had elevated BP (systolic BP 120-129 mm Hg), 38% had stage I hypertension (systolic BP 130-139 mm Hg) and 1% had stage II hypertension (systolic BP > 140 mm Hg).
“That’s really a remarkable proportion, given that these are young, supposedly healthy women,” Cecil Rambarat, MD, cardiology fellow at the University of Florida, said in a press release. “It’s something that requires further study. If these female athletes are developing high blood pressure at a younger age — maybe associated with their training, maybe associated with other lifestyle measures — we may need to start thinking about better ways of modifying any identifiable risk factors, or potentially [consider] starting [some] patients on medication for high blood pressure at a younger age.”
Moreover, researchers observed between-sport differences for the prevalence of elevated BP (P = .001). Approximately 59% of softball players and 49% of basketball players and swimmers presented with elevated BP values. In contrast, no gymnastic participants had elevated BP.
“There have been very few studies describing the female athlete’s heart and risk factors that might lead to cardiac morbidity and mortality in this group,” Rambarat said in the release. “This work gives us a baseline through which we can study the female collegiate athlete’s heart in comparison to the male athlete’s heart.”
In other findings, body surface area of women athletes had a stronger correlation with BP elevation (r = 0.22) compared with BMI (r = 0.13).
Researchers observed no significant between race differences for BP level in collegiate athletes.
“We were surprised by the results,” Rambarat told Healio. “These young and presumably healthy women have a higher prevalence of high blood pressure when matched to noncollegiate athletes at a similar age.
“Further research is needed to determine the reasons why female collegiate athletes, noted to be participating in certain sports, have elevated blood pressure,” Rambarat said in an interview. “In addition, future research should examine for cardiac remodeling and/or adverse cardiac outcomes in these athletes over a long period of time.” – by Scott Buzby
Reference:
Rambarat C, et al. Abstract 1264-109. Presented at: American College of Cardiology Scientific Session; March 28-30, 2020 (virtual meeting).
Disclosure: Rambarat reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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