Fatores de risco à saúde e estilo de vida : uma comparação entre atletas e não-atletas

Abstract

Cohort’s studies usually indicates higher life expectancy in athletes than nonathletes, also showing difference between strength and endurance/mixed athletes. However, it is hard to find reliable data related to health’s risk factors and lifestyle adopted by the athletes, especially during performing stage. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare lifestyle’s attributes and health’s risk factors between athletes and non-athletes among sports subgroups using observation/transversal design. Method: physical attributes and health’s selfreported and lifestyle data were collected by clinical trials and surveys from athletes (64 strength athletes and 219 endurance/mixed athletes) and non-athletes in non-probabilistic samples. In order to compare between athletes and non-athletes, the data were combined with Plano Nacional de Saúde (2013), which aggregate information of great relevance on national coverage, and is provided by Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). Results: Lower health’s risk factors and healthier lifestyles (self-reported depression, p=0,003; tobacco’s consumption, p<0,001; and alcohol, p<0,001) was found in athletes comparing to non-athletes’s group. Furthermore, endurance/mixed athletes demonstrated better health’s profile than strength athletes, with lower overweight prevalence (p<0,001), supplementation (p=0,03) and alcohol consumption (p=0,009), hypertension (p=0,009), body fat percentage (p<0,001), and better quality of sleeping (p<0,001). Conclusion: high level athletes tend to have healthier behaviour than non-athletes. In addition, there are differences among health’s profile between athletes’s subgroups, as the endurance/mixed athletes are the ones with lower risk factors and healthier lifestyles as compared to strength athletes. These results could help comprehend the factors behind higher lifespan between endurance and mixed athletes as compared to strength athletes and non-athletes.