Intense Training in Sport: Monitoring the Effects on Immune Function and Mood State

Intense Training in Sport: Monitoring the Effects on Immune Function and Mood State

The purpose of this study was to monitor five competitive swimmers during a swimming season in two of the potential areas in which an adverse response to training may appear: the immunological parameter of mucosal immune function and the psychological parameter of mood state. Each parameter was assessed once per week over the seven weeks of the study. Immune function was assessed by salivary Immunoglobin-A concentrations analyzed by an indirect competitive immunoassay. Mood state was assessed with the Brief Assessment of Mood State. A single-case study design was used to ensure that individual differences were not masked by group means. Results of the study for the five participants show mixed esults, with much variability. Data for one of the five participants supported hypothesized results where an increase in total mood disturbance and consistently low sIgA levels were demonstrated  over the study. This study illustrates the importance of using singlecase studies to monitor the training of athletes and need to explore other test parameters for use in training studies.