Cardiorespiratory capacity in effort of wheelchair rugby athletes with spinal cord injury according to competitive level

Abstract

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) in the cervical region is one of the most disabling injuries in humans with decreased cardiorespiratory fitness. Initially, the sports practice for disabled people had rehabilitative character in order to improve their physical, emotional and social aspect. Studies show that the level of competitiveness in conventional sport correlates with better physical and sports performance. However, the adapted sports, especially in quadriplegic athletes, little is known about this relationship. Objective: To determine the cardiorespiratory capacity in effort to athletes with rugby LM Wheelchair different competitive levels, comparing them according to the competitive level and correlate the cardiorespiratory capacity in effort to the functional classification (CF). Methods: The study has observational feature, sectional, involving Brazilian athletes of RCR, divided into two groups according to the competitive level: GCN group (n = 07), athletes who compete nationally and GCI group (n = 18) athletes competing internationally. The cardiorespiratory fitness in stress was evaluated by cardiopulmonary exercise testing on a cycle ergometer arm with incremental intensity protocol and using a metabolic analyzer ventilation gases. Descriptive measures were presented as median (minimum-maximum values), comparisons between groups were made using nonparametric statistical procedures and the correlation between CF and cardiorespiratory variables was assessed with Spearman's correlation coefficient (statistical significance = 5%). Results: The groups were comparable with regard to demographic variables and time LM. The GCI athletes had longer practice RCR and frequency, hours of weekly training volume (all p <0.05). Moreover, it was also observed in this group increased consumption of oxygen in the absolute peak exercise [GCI = 1.97 (1.27 to 3.30) vs. GCN = 1.02 (0.84 to 1.86) L / min; p <0.01], ventilation [GCI = 55.2 (22.8 to 90.5) vs. GCN = 30.7 (25.9 to 53.7) L / min; p <0.01], stress time [GCI = 10:28 (3:37 to 23:14) vs. GCN = 4:57 (2:32 to 8:45) min: s; p <0.01] and final power [GCI = 46.0 (26.0 to 75.0) vs. GCN = 35.0 (22.0 to 55.0) W; p = 0.02]. The CF was positively correlated with cardiorespiratory variables, especially in the GCI. Conclusion: RCR players in the GCI for presenting long and weekly training volume showed better cardiorespiratory fitness in effort in relation to players GCN. The CF appears to have a greater influence on cardiorespiratory fitness of athletes competing internationally, possibly because they were more homogeneous.