Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Date of Graduation

Spring 5-3-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

<--Please Select Department-->

Advisor(s)

Danielle Torisky

Jeremy D Akers

Hasan Hamdan

Abstract

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between iron storage and overall well-being in Division I female collegiate athletes. This was done to determine a cost-effective screening method for iron deficiency.

Design: Retrospective Cohort

Subjects and Settings: 117 Division I female athletes at James Madison University. Subjects were ages 17-22 from different teams (Cross Country, Track & Field, Basketball, Field Hockey, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Golf, Swimming & Diving, Soccer, and Softball). We excluded one subject based on a medical diagnosis.

Main Outcome Measure: Data were retrieved from Electronic Medical Records on subjects who have had ferritin levels tested and completed the Henriques 10-Item Well-being Questionnaire (H10WB) within the same year.

Results: Correlations resulted in no significant relationship between ferritin levels and H10WB total scores with a p-value of 0.141. The data were divided into three groups (A,B,C) based on number of H10WB questionnaires completed. This separation resulted in non-significant relationships. Group A, ferritin 1 and H10WB total (p= 0.070); Group B, ferritin 1 and H10WB total (p=0.819); Group C, ferritin 1 and H10WB total (p= 0.056).

Conclusion: Current data suggest that the symptoms of mood disturbances and changes in an athlete’s overall well-being status are not correlated with low ferritin levels. These results suggest the H10WB is not a sufficient tool to predict iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia; therefore, further research needs to be conducted with larger samples of subjects with iron deficiency to determine an efficacious cost-effective screening tool.

Key Words: iron deficiency, ferritin and athletes, iron deficiency and athletes, ferritin and mental health, female athletes and iron deficiency

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