Diagnosis of EIB and Asthma in NCAA Division I Athletes

We plan to identify all Division I athletes, male and female, at the University of Arizona that are currently being treated for either EIB or asthma by review of preparticipation physical forms or identified by the medical staff. In addition, athletes that were prescribed inhalers through Campus Health Services will be identified through review of electronic pharmacy records. Each athlete identified will be matched with two control athletes (ie, not currently using asthma medications) from the same sport. Subjects will be tested for EIB using eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation, the gold standard for making this diagnosis.

Subject Recruitment Potential subjects will be identified as described above. Subjects will be approached by one of the co-investigators, the study explained and an opportunity to review the consent form and ask question provided. Subjects who consent will then be scheduled for testing.

Questionnaire Subjects, once enrolled, will be asked to complete a 27 item questionnaire including questions about prior history and treatment of asthma, as well as history of respiratory symptoms. In addition, subjects will be asked to complete the Asthma Control Test (ACT).

EVH and Spirometric Testing All subjects will undergo baseline assessment of lung function using the KoKo Legend Portable Spirometer. The subjects will then undergo eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation testing. EVH testing will require the subject to hyperventilate dry air containing 5% carbon dioxide at room temperature for six minutes at a target ventilation of 30 times the subject's forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). The EVH test will be considered positive if a fall in FEV1 of 10% or more from baseline is recorded after a 6 minute period of hyperpnea. To overcome the problem of any post-test respiratory muscle fatigue, the FEV1 will be recorded at least three minutes after challenge and then repeated at three-minute intervals through 21 minutes.

Spirometry will be carried out according to American Thoracic Society standards. Both absolute and percent-predicted spirometric values will be recorded. Predicted values will be calculated from validated, published, race-specific regression equations. (Hankinson, et al. Spirometric reference values values from a sample of the general US population. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1999; 159:179-187.) Asian-American athletes will be evaluated using norms for whites.