THE CHANGE IN REDUCTION TIME OF BLOOD AFTER BREATH-HOLDING AS A CRITERION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL FITNESS

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Abstract
The change in reduction time after: breath-holding is described in its relation to physiologic fitness. In general, after prolonged breath-holding, reduction time shows a decrease in normal persons, and either no change or an increase in persons who are ill. For comparative purposes, the % decrease on breath-holding is used as a score, a greater score signifying a greater degree of fitness. Scores detd. for groups of various recognized degrees of fitness ranged from an avg. of 36 for a group of Marines to an avg. of [long dash] 13.5 for hospital patients. The effect of training was indicated in the group avgs. of Marines receiving advanced training: for various groups, (1) in their 1st wk., (2) after 2 wks., and (3) after 9 wks. of training, the scores showed successive increases in fitness. In a study of flying personnel at an air station, a change in score indicating a decrease in fitness was found after one Or more flights. Since this lower score was due primarily to a shorter resting reduction time, it is interpreted to mean that physiologic compensatory reactions were at work, as a result of the nervous strain of flying. A test-retest study gave a correlation coefficient of i +0.81. The decrease in reduction time after breath-holding is believed to be an indication of the adjustment of the body to a condition of stress, in which the primary factor involved is" a shifting of blood from the skin region to other parts of the body.

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