Author(s): SAWADA, S., SHIMIZU, S., TSUNEDA, U., NAKAZAWA, Y., SUZUKI, K., HIRAYAMA, K., LEE, D.C., Institution: WASEDA UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1026

INTRODUCTION:
Limited data on the relationship between sports participation and health are available. In particular, few studies have investigated the relationship between contact sports such as rugby, American football, wrestling, boxing, and karate and the prevalence of frequent upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the relationship between contact sports and the prevalence of frequent URTI among Japanese adults.
METHODS:
This study was conducted using an Internet survey between July 30, 2021 and August 3, 2021 in Japan. The study participants consisted of 2,500 adults (mean age = 26.1 years, 50% women) Participants were asked about the frequency of URTI before the COVID-19 pandemic, and were asked to select the most appropriate answer among the following options: ‘a few times each year’, ‘about once every year’, ‘once every few years’ and, ‘rarely.’ Participants were also asked if they had ever participated or are currently participating in contact sports: ‘have participated in the past and currently participating [CS]’; ‘have participated in the past, but not currently [Past-CS]’; and ‘have never participated [Neven-CS].’ We combined ‘a few times each year’ and ‘about once each year’ and defined it as frequent URTI (case) and ‘once every few years’ and ‘rarely’ as non-frequent URTI (non-case). Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the prevalence of frequent URTI were obtained using logistic regression models while adjusting for age, sex, marital status, household income, and education levels.
RESULTS:
There was a total of 487 (29.3%) frequent URTI cases. Compared to the Never-CS, the ORs (95% CIs) were 1.50 (1.16 − 1.94) for Past-CS, and 2.11 (1.70 − 2.63) for CS, respectively.
CONCLUSION:
This study showed a higher prevalence of frequent URTI in adults who have participated or are currently participating in contact sports. However, prospective studies are needed to find a causal relationship between contact sports participation and URTI.