An Exploratory Study Investigating the Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Collegiate Division I American Football Athletes

Floris C. Wardenaar (), Kinta D. Schott, Alex E. Mohr, Carmen P. Ortega-Santos and John E. Connolly
Additional contact information
Floris C. Wardenaar: College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Kinta D. Schott: College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Alex E. Mohr: College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Carmen P. Ortega-Santos: Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
John E. Connolly: Sun Devil Athletics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms may limit performance, but their prevalence and impact among team sports athletes is not well-documented. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of GI symptoms in a small sample of collegiate DI American football athletes, using a survey including the Gastrointestinal Symptoms Ratings Scale (GSRS). Forty-six athletes responded to the survey and reported scores for the 15-question GSRS with additional questions about dietary habits and supplement use. A total of 44 athletes were included in the study (45% of the current roster, age: 20.7 ± 1.7 years, 50% Afro-American or black, 39% skill position, 18% NSAIDs use, and 41% reporting protein supplement use); approximately half of the athletes (52%) reported experiencing GI complaints during exercise. Two-thirds of the athletes (61%) reported at least one or more GI symptoms in general, and 50% reported at least four moderate complaints. Seven athletes (16%) reported ≥2 severe GI symptoms with 5–13 moderate complaints. The most reported symptom was stomach pain (39%, n = 17), followed by hunger pain (36%, n = 16). Athletes reporting the use of protein supplements reported a higher GSRS score (22.0 and interquartile range (IQR) 17.0–31.8) vs. athletes not reporting protein use (15.0 and IQR 15.0–19.3), p = 0.001. Most athletes surveyed reported experiencing GI symptoms. A small group of these athletes reported multiple, varied, and severe symptoms that were associated with self-reported protein supplement use. In conclusion, the number of complaints varied among athletes, confirming the value of integrating the GSRS for screening purposes, and the expected need for individual dietary treatment approaches.

Keywords: gastrointestinal symptom rating scale; protein use; gut; team-sport athletes; high-intensity exercise (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/15/6453/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/15/6453/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:15:p:6453-:d:1203558

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().