The problem of this study was to determine if a difference in core body temperature and degree of dehydration exists between able-bodied athletes and wheelchair athletes in response to prolonged aerobic exercise while under thermal stress. Eight subjects, four able-bodied and four wheelchair athletes, volunteered to take part in the study. All subjects performed a 60-minute bout of upper body exercise while subjected to a temperature of 33- 34·c. Core body temperature, heart rate and degree of dehydration were all measured during and after testing, providing three dependent variables: the time that it took to achieve a maximum core body temperature (Time to Max Temp.), the difference between pre-weight and post-weight after the 60 minute bout of exercise (Weight Diff.) and the maximum temperature achieved during the 60 minute bout of exercise (Temp. Diff.). A multivariate factorial design (MANOVA) was used to examine group differences across all dependent variables simultaneously. No significant differences were observed between groups (p>.05). The results of this study may indicate that wheelchair athletes are no more susceptible to elevated core body temperatures or dehydration during aerobic exercise than able-bodled athletes. If this is the case, wheelchair athletes may need only to take the same precautions during aerobic exercise while under thermal stress as their able-bodied counterparts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:pacific.edu/oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-3269 |
| Date | 01 January 1994 |
| Creators | Heckman, Marc J. |
| Publisher | Scholarly Commons |
| Source Sets | University of the Pacific |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations |
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