Correlation between Hemoglobin Concentration and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Adolescent Sportsmen

Abstract

Background: Sport is a physical activity that increases human body oxygen demand. Hemoglobin has a major role to fulfill the oxygen demand. The ability to fulfill this demand was also seen as cardiorespiratory fitness. Sportsmen have a high cardiorespiratory fitness due to the intensity and frequency of training. This study aimed to explore the effect of hemoglobin concentration on cardiorespiratory fitness of adolescent sportsmen. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from October-November 2019. Male badminton and basketball sportsmen aged 15-19 years old in Jakarta and Bogor were recruited (n=72). Hemoglobin concentration was measured with a digital hemoglobinometer. The VO2max was estimated with a beep test. FITNESSGRAM® Performance Standard was used for the classification of cardiorespiratory fitness. The hemoglobin concentration and cardiorespiratory fitness were then analyzed (Spearman and Kruskal-Wallis). Results: There was a correlation between hemoglobin concentration and cardiorespiratory fitness (p=0.001), although the correlation was weak (r=0.38). Kruskal-Wallis analysis showed there was a significant mean difference in hemoglobin concentration on cardiorespiratory fitness groups (p=0.005). Conclusions: The mean of the hemoglobin concentration in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) cardiorespiratory group is higher than in the Need Improvement (NI) group and the Need Improvement within Health Risk (NI-HR) group.