Cardiorespiratory Fitness Profile of Undergraduate Biomedical Students in a Nigerian University

Abstract

The transition from youth to adulthood has been reported to be a high risk period for developing sedentary habits, which could lead to reduced  cardiorespiratory fitness. There is a dearth of published studies on the
cardiorespiratory fitness profile of college students in this environment. This study therefore examined the cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) profile of undergraduate biomedical students of the University of Jos, Nigeria. One hundred and six biomedical students (76 males; 30 females) of the University of Jos participated in this study. Age, height (Ht), weight (Wt), body mass index (BMI) and exercise heart rate (HRex) to predetermined
exercise intensity were measured and recorded. A modified sub-maximal cycle ergometer protocol was used to estimate maximal oxygen  consumption. The estimated value was then compared against the American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) standard reference for age and sex. Data obtained was analysed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics of the student’s independent
t-test. When compared with the reference norm, the results showed that 69.8% had excellent CRF status, 16.0% had good CRF, 13.2% had  average CRF and only 1% had poor CRF status. Male students had  significantly higher CRF compared with female students. The study showed that most of the students had excellent CRF according to ACSM age and sex matched classification, but further study may be needed to monitor the trend of CRF over time.

KEY WORDS: cardiorespiratory fitness, biomedical students, Nigeria