The Association between Regular Sports Participation and Immune Status in College Students Using Immune Status Questionnaire

Abstract

College students may lack physical activity due to academic burden. This puts them at a higher risk of decreased immunity. This study aimed to investigate the association between sports participation and immune status. This was a cross-sectional retrospective study. Participants were 170 Atma Jaya Medicine and Health Science School students consisting of 59 boys (34.7%) and 111 girls (65.3%). Seventy-nine (46.5%) students participated in the Sports Students Club from December 2021 - December 2022, and 91 did not (53.5%). There were four sports, i.e., badminton, basketball, futsal, and volleyball. Data was taken from July-August 2023. Immune status was assessed using the Indonesian Immune Status Questionnaire (ISQ) version. The amounts of boys engaged in sports activity was significantly greater than girls [45(76.3%) vs 34(30.6%), p=0.001]. One hundred eleven students (65.3%) had good immune status, consisting of 65 girls (58.6%) and 46 boys (78%); 59 students (74.7%) participated in sports, and 52 students (57.1%) did not. Sex and sports participation were associated with immune status (p=0.000 and p=0.017, respectively). Students with good immune status had higher final ISQ scores than those with poor immune status (8.37±1.4 vs 3.84±1.4, p=0.000). Skin problems, headache, and muscle joint pain (MJP) were the three most common illnesses. Sports participation was a protective factor for skin problems, headache, and MJP (OR 0.27, 0.34, 0.41; 95%CI 0.14-0.53, 0.17-0.67, 0.20- 0.84; p=0.000, 0.002, 0.013, respectively). Regular sports participation is associated with favorable immune status. Sport participation could be a protective factor for some symptoms.