Abstract:

Background: Exercise-induced bronchospasm EIB is a transient airway obstruction that occursduring and after the exercise. Exercise-induced bronchospasm is observed in healthy individualsas well as the asthmatic and allergic rhinitis patients. Research question: The study compared theeffects of one session of submaximal aerobic exercise and a maximal one on the prevalence ofexercise-induced bronchospasm in non-athletic students. Type of study: An experimental study,using human subjects, was designed. Methods: 20 non-athletic male students participated in twosessions of aerobic exercise. The prevalence of EIB was investigated among them. The criteria forassessing exercise-induced bronchospasm were ≥10% fall in FEV1, ≥15% fall in FEF25 -75%, or≥25% fall in PEFR. Results: The results revealed that the maximal exercise did not affect FEF2575% and PEF, but it led to a meaningful reduction in FEV1. Contrarily, the submaximal exerciseaffected none of these indices. That is, in both protocols the same result was obtained for PEF andFEF25-75. Moreover, the prevalence of EIB was 15% in the submaximal exercise and 20% in themaximal one. Actually, this difference was significant. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that incontrast to the subjects who performed submaximal exercise, those who participated in themaximal protocol showed more changes in the pulmonary function indices and the prevalence ofEIB was greater among them

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