PhD, Associate Professor E.A. Milashechkina¹
Dr.Biol., Professor T.I. Jandarova^2
1Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow
²North-Caucasus Federal University, Stavropol

Keywords: special health group, cardiovascular system, physical progress, adaptation, motor activity.

Today we observe an intensification of the higher educational process. New professional standards require from future specialists high intellectual productivity, physical working capacity, self-discipline in work and rest regimen [9]. Students spend a lot of effort trying to master new skills, which can lead to their functional reserve depletion, tension of the compensatory-adaptive mechanisms of the body and, as a result, a failure of adaptation [1, 4, 6]. The most vulnerable in this case are students assigned by their health status to a special health group (SHG) [5]. Changes in the study regime, social environment, and in some cases climatic conditions, especially adversely affect the SHG students with the low level of motor activity [7]. According to the studies earlier conducted in North-Caucasus Federal University (NCFU) [8], a large number of the SHG students (40%) have never studied physical education at school. 36% of the SHG students were additionally engaged in various sections, that is, their volume of motor activity was minimal - 2 physical education lessons a week. Given the above, the vast majority of young people with health deviations do not even try to preserve or improve their health by means of physical education.

Female NCFU students were diagnosed with health deviations more often than males. Of them, 40% to 70% were diagnosed with cardiovascular disorders in different years [5]. In addition to existing diseases, the process of adaptation to training loads has an effect on the students’ body. The cardiovascular system is one of the leading adaptive systems of the body [2, 3]. Under the constant influence of adverse environmental factors, unhealthy lifestyle, bad habits, insufficient motor activity the adaptive capacity of the body decreases which results in development of existing diseases, that is, deterioration of health.

In view of the above, the objective of the study was to rate the physical development of female students diagnosed with cardiovascular disorders versus different levels of motor activity.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was conducted in vivo. Subject to the experiment were the first-year female students aged 18-19 years. They were split up into 2 groups: Reference Group (n=27) - female students assigned to the special health group due to the cardiovascular disorders, whose amount of motor activity was limited to the physical education classes according to the curriculum - 2 PE classes a week (4 hours); Experimental Group (n=24) – female students assigned to the special health group due to cardiovascular disorders, who were involved in extra physical and health activities – 2 training sessions a week (8 hours a week in total).

Level of physical development, which is one of the main signs of good health and adaptive capability of the body, was rated by the body mass index (BMI) by Adolphe Quetelet, chest circumference (CC), chest excursion (CE), physical fitness test rates including race, 2000 m walking, gymnastic bench push-ups (number of reps), sit-ups (number of reps).

Results and discussion. At the beginning of the academic year, 3.9% of the girls with cardiovascular disorders were classified as underweight, 17.1% - insufficient body weight, 4.1% - the first degree of obesity, 22.5% - overweight and only 52.4% had normal body weight. At the end of the academic year, the number of female students with the first degree of obesity decreased by 24% in the Experimental Group, and underweight was not found any more. At the same time, the number of girls with normal body weight increased to 68%. In the Reference Group, the results remained almost at the same level: the number of underweight girls equaled to 3.6%, those with the first degree of obesity - 4.8%, and with normal body weight - 50.7%.

According to comparison of the physical fitness levels of the girls with cardiovascular disorders, who had different levels of motor activity, the Reference Group was tested to have with much lower general endurance in the 2000 m run test (14.00±0.49 min) at the end of the academic year as opposed to the Experimental one (12.46±0.23) (p<0.01). The researchers believe, general endurance is one of the markers of the cardiorespiratory system functionality and health level in general [10]. In the strength tests (push-ups, sit-ups), the Experimental Group female students demonstrated lower results - by 42.44 and 27.71%, respectively compared to the data obtained in the Reference Group girls.

The analysis of the respiratory function (Table 1) found the following: at the beginning of the academic year the CE and VC indices were practically at the same level (p>0.1) in both of the groups, while at the end of the academic year a significant increase in the respiratory system functionality rates was observed in the Experimental Group girls as compared to the Reference Group (p<0.001, p<0.01). These data indicate an insufficient lung function in the Reference Group girls, which may worsen their health status over time.

Table 1. Respiratory system functionality rates in SHG female students

Note: P – significance of differences between the indicators obtained at the beginning and at the end of the academic year; P₁ – significance of differences between the indicators of the Experimental and Reference Groups at the end of the academic year

Conclusion. The physical development and physical fitness test rates may be recommended as reliable markers of health status, with any fall in the rates being potentially indicative of a health disorder. Low physical activity is known to expose even relatively healthy people to high health risks; all the more the people diagnosed with some health disorders may not afford physical inactivity as it inevitably further aggravates their health condition. The extra physical and health improvement program was found beneficial for the students diagnosed with cardiovascular disorders as verified by the respiratory function progress tests.

References

1. Aghajanyan N.A., Bayevskiy R.M., Berseneva A.P. Problemy adaptatsii i uchenie o zdorovye. Ucheb. posobie [Adaptation issues and health doctrine. Study guide]. Moscow: PFUR (RUDN) publ., 2006, 284 p.
2. Bayevskiy R.M., Kirillov O.I., Kletskin S.M. Matematicheskiy analiz izmeneniy serdechnogo ritma pri stresse [Mathematical analysis of heart rate during stress]. Moscow: Nauka publ., 1984, 222 p.
3. Bayevskiy R.M., Berseneva A.I., Paleyev N.R. Otsenka adaptatsionnogo potentsiala sistemy krovoobrascheniya pri massovykh profilakticheskikh obsledovaniyakh [Assessment of Adaptational. Potential of Circulatory System in Mass Preventive Examinations of Population]. Otsenka. Moscow: Ekspress-informatsiya VNIIMI publ., 1987, 19 p.
4. Glebov V.V., Arakelov G.G. Psikhofiziologicheskie osobennosti i protsessy adaptatsii studentov pervogo kursa raznykh fakultetov RUDN [Psychophysiological features and adaptation processes of first-year students of different faculties of PFUR]. Vestnik RUDN. Ser. 'Ekologiya i bezopasnost zhiznedeyatelnosti'. Moscow, 2014, no. 2, pp. 89-95.
5. Jandarova T.I., Milashechkina E.A. Fizicheskoe razvitie studentok, otnesennykh k spetsialnoy meditsinskoy gruppe, imeyuschikh otkloneniya v deyatelnosti serdechno-sosudistoy sistemy [Physical development of female students with cardiovascular pathology attributed to special health group]. Nauchny zhurnal Severo-Kavkazskogo federalnogo universiteta: Nauka. Innovatsii. Tekhnologii. Stavropol, 2014, no. 1, pp. 82-83.
6. Zubova O.M., Rozanov V.V., Severin A.E. Rol fizicheskikh metodov lecheniya v povyshenii adaptatsionnykh vozmozhnostey u studentov [Role of physical methods of treatment for increase of students' adaptive capabilities]. Mater. XVII Vseros. Simpoziuma ‘Ekologo-fiziologicheskie problemy adaptatsii’ [Proc. XVII nat. symposium 'Ecological and physiological issues of adaptation']. Ryazan – Moscow: PFUR (RUDN) publ., 2017, pp. 82-83.
7. Milashechkina E.A., Gubareva L.I. Gormonalny status studentok s serdechno-sosudistoy patologiey, zanimayuschikhsya v spetsialnoy meditsinskoy gruppe [Hormonal status in female students with cardiovascular pathology attributed to special health group]. Sb. nauch. tr. po mater. Vseros. nauch.-prakt. konf. 'Fizicheskaya kultura i sport v sisteme vysshego professionalnogo obrazovaniya' [Proc. nat. res.-pract. conf. 'Physical education and sports in higher professional education system']. Stavropol: Servisshkola publ., 2005, pp. 201-203.
8. Milashechkina E.A. Motivatsionno-tsennostnye orientatsii studentok, otnesennykh k spetsialnoy meditsinskoy gruppe v oblasti fizicheskoy kultury [Physical culture based motivations and value orientations of female special health group students]. Sb. nauch. tr. po mater. Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. konf. 'Nauchnoe obosnovanie fizicheskogo vospitaniya, sportivnoy trenirovki i podgotovki kadrov po fizicheskoy kulture, sportu i turizmu' [Proc. Intern. res.-pract. conf. 'Scientific substantiation of physical education, athletic training and training of physical education, sports and tourism personnel]. Minsk, vol. 2, 2010, 300 p.
9. Rodionova O.M. Zdorovyesberegayuschie tekhnologii obucheniya studentov ekologicheskogo fakulteta RUDN [Health-protecting technologies for teaching students of PFUR ecological faculty]. Vestnik RUDN. Ser. 'Ekologiya i bezopasnost zhiznedeyatelnosti', 2010, no. 4, pp. 48-53.
10. Romanchenko S.A. Korrektsiya sostoyaniya zdorovya studentov v protsesse zanyatiy fizicheskoy kulturoy. Avtoref. Dis. kand. ped. nauk [Correction of students' state of health during physical training. PhD diss. abstract]. St. Petersburg, 2006, 19 p.

Corresponding author: fizkult@teoriya.ru

Abstract

The study was designed to rate the physical development of the special health group (SHG) students diagnosed with cardiovascular disorders versus their physical activity rates. The physical development was rated by body mass index, vital capacity index, chest excursion index and physical fitness test rates. The physical progress of the SHG students diagnosed with cardiovascular disorders was found to be largely determined by their physical activity rates. The physical development and physical fitness test rates may be recommended as reliable markers of health status, with any fall in the rates being potentially indicative of a health disorder. Low physical activity is known to expose even relatively healthy people to high health risks; all the more the people diagnosed with some health disorders may not afford physical inactivity as it inevitably further aggravates their health condition. The extra physical and health improvement program was found beneficial for the students diagnosed with cardiovascular disorders as verified by the respiratory function progress tests.