Crewther, Blair T; Hamilton, David; Kilduff, Liam P; Drawer, Scott; Cook, Christian John

Author(s)

Crewther, Blair T

Hamilton, David

Kilduff, Liam P

Drawer, Scott

Cook, Christian John

Publication Date

2018-05

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the effect of oral contraceptive (OC) use on salivary testosterone (sal-T) concentrations and performance-related statistics in international field hockey matches. Design: A cohort observational study with repeated measures. Methods: Twenty-three elite female athletes were monitored across four international field hockey matches over a nine-day period. Salivary T was assessed 45 min before each match and several match performance statistics were collated; load (i.e. ratings of perceived exertion × playing time), video-derived positive actions (PA) and negative actions (NA), plus coach and player ratings of performance. The sal-T and match performance profiles of OC (n = 7) and Non-OC (n = 16) players were compared and predictive relationships tested. Results: Pre-match sal-T concentrations were 35% higher in the Non-OC than the OC group (p = 0.001), representing a large effect size (ES) difference of 0.96. The OC and Non-OC groups did not differ on any performance statistic (p ≥ 0.348) with ES differences from −0.22 to 0.11. Salivary T was positively related to the number of PA during match play (p = 0.017). Additional linkage between sal-T and NA emerged, but with opposing slopes (p = 0.008) in the OC (B = −1.783, p = 0.030) and Non-OC (B = 0.692, p = 0.127) groups. Conclusions: OC usage by elite women athletes was accompanied by lower sal-T concentrations, but the performance outputs of the OC and Non-OC groups were similar. This suggests that the T differences had no impact on match performance. On an individual (population-averaged) level, sal-T was associated with PA and NA during these matches, though the response curves predicting NA differed for OC and Non-OC athletes.

Citation

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 21(5), p. 453-456

ISSN

1878-1861

1440-2440

Link

https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/31864

Publisher

Elsevier Australia

Title

The effect of oral contraceptive use on salivary testosterone concentrations and athlete performance during international field hockey matches

Type of document

Journal Article

Entity Type

Publication

Author(s)	Crewther, Blair T Hamilton, David Kilduff, Liam P Drawer, Scott Cook, Christian John
Publication Date	2018-05
Abstract	<i>Objectives:</i> To investigate the effect of oral contraceptive (OC) use on salivary testosterone (sal-T) concentrations and performance-related statistics in international field hockey matches.<br/> <i>Design:</i> A cohort observational study with repeated measures.<br/> <i>Methods:</i> Twenty-three elite female athletes were monitored across four international field hockey matches over a nine-day period. Salivary T was assessed 45 min before each match and several match performance statistics were collated; load (i.e. ratings of perceived exertion × playing time), video-derived positive actions (PA) and negative actions (NA), plus coach and player ratings of performance. The sal-T and match performance profiles of OC (n = 7) and Non-OC (n = 16) players were compared and predictive relationships tested.<br/> <i>Results:</i> Pre-match sal-T concentrations were 35% higher in the Non-OC than the OC group (p = 0.001), representing a large effect size (ES) difference of 0.96. The OC and Non-OC groups did not differ on any performance statistic (p ≥ 0.348) with ES differences from −0.22 to 0.11. Salivary T was positively related to the number of PA during match play (p = 0.017). Additional linkage between sal-T and NA emerged, but with opposing slopes (p = 0.008) in the OC (B = −1.783, p = 0.030) and Non-OC (B = 0.692, p = 0.127) groups.<br/> <i>Conclusions:</i> OC usage by elite women athletes was accompanied by lower sal-T concentrations, but the performance outputs of the OC and Non-OC groups were similar. This suggests that the T differences had no impact on match performance. On an individual (population-averaged) level, sal-T was associated with PA and NA during these matches, though the response curves predicting NA differed for OC and Non-OC athletes.
Citation	Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 21(5), p. 453-456
ISSN	1878-1861 1440-2440
Link	https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/31864
Publisher	Elsevier Australia
Title	The effect of oral contraceptive use on salivary testosterone concentrations and athlete performance during international field hockey matches
Type of document	Journal Article
Entity Type	Publication

The effect of oral contraceptive use on salivary testosterone concentrations and athlete performance during international field hockey matches

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