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. 2020 Dec;55(12):3509-3516.
doi: 10.1002/ppul.25104. Epub 2020 Oct 20.

Prevalence of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction and laryngeal obstruction in adolescent athletes

Karin Ersson  1   2 , Elisabet Mallmin  3 , Andrei Malinovschi  1 , Katarina Norlander  3 , Henrik Johansson  1   2 , Leif Nordang  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction and laryngeal obstruction in adolescent athletes

Karin Ersson et al. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: To study the prevalence of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) and exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO) in adolescent athletes.

Methods: All adolescents (n = 549) attending first year at a sports high school in 2016 and 2017, were invited to answer a questionnaire on respiratory symptoms. The 367 responding participants were divided into two groups based on whether they reported exercise-induced dyspnea (dyspnea group) or not (nondyspnea group). Randomly selected participants in each group were invited to undergo two standardized exercise tests, an EIB test and a continuous laryngoscopy exercise (CLE) test, to investigate EILO.

Results: In total, 98 participants completed an EIB test, 75 of whom also completed a CLE test. Positive EIB tests: eight of 41 in the dyspnea group and 16 of 57 in the nondyspnea group. Positive CLE tests: 5 of 34 in the dyspnea group and three of 41 in the nondyspnea group. The estimated prevalence of EIB was 23.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 14.5-33.8) and of EILO 8.1% (95% CI: 2.5-18.5) in the whole study population. No differences in prevalence of EIB or EILO were found between the dyspnea and the nondyspnea groups.

Conclusion: EIB was highly prevalent in this cohort of adolescent athletes. EILO was less prevalent, but represents an important differential diagnosis to EIB. Self-reported exercise-induced dyspnea is a weak indicator for both EIB and EILO and standardized testing should be provided.

Keywords: adolescents; dyspnea; exercise tests; high school athletes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participants' inclusion and exclusion. CLE test, continuous laryngoscopy exercise test; EIB test, exercise‐induced bronchoconstriction test
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