Extrasystole Prevalence among Master Basketball Players

Objectives.
Master athletes are at increased risk of atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease. The aim was to examine master basketball player supraventricular, ventricular ectopy prevalence that can predispose to these conditions, correlation with age and length of playing basketball.
Materials and Methods.
Cross-sectional research enrolling master basketball players. A cardiopulmonary stress test was made focusing on supraventricular, ventricular ectopy. Data was collected, processed using SPSS Statistics using descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson Correlation).
Results.
61 master athletes (enrolled March 2024 – September 2024), medium age - 64 years (SD 7.8). 5 participants (8.2%) had supraventricular extrasystoles (SVES). During rest - 0 participants; warm-up - 2 (3.3%); exercise 5 minutes- 3 (4.9 %); 10 minutes - 2 (3.3%); recovery phase - 2 (3.3%) of which 1 (1.6%) also during exercise. SVES did not have a statistically significant correlation with length of playing basketball but had a statistically significant correlation with age (p=0.002). 24 (39.3%) master athletes had ventricular extrasystoles (VES). During rest - 4 (6.6%); warm-up - 9 (14.8%); 5 exercise minutes -12 (19.7%) of which 2 (3.3%) at maximal excursion; 10 minutes - 5 (8.2%) of which 1 (1.6%) during maximal excursion; 15 minutes - 4 (6.6%) of which 3 (4.9%) at maximal excursion; at 20 minutes - 3 (4.9%) and all at maximal excursion. At recovery 2 (3.3%) had VES. There was no statistically significant correlation with age or length of playing basketball.
Conclusions.
Prevalence of SVES among master basketball players is 8.2% which correlates with the athletes’ age (p=0.002) but not with the length of basketball playing. VES are seen for 24 (39.3%) of athletes and did not have a statistically significant difference with age or length of playing basketball.