2025/02/18 by Leonardo Azevedo Mobília Alvares, Marcus Vinicius Lúcio dos Santos Quaresma, Fernanda Patti Nakamoto +9 · 2 voices · 3 citations
Psychology · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy #Genetics and Physical Performance #Physical Activity and Health
paper · pdf · doi:10.1136/bjsports-2024-108601
Objective The inclusion of transgender athletes in competitive sports has promoted significant dialogue and controversy among exercise-related professionals. The objective of this study was to investigate body composition, exercise-related performance parameters and associated health-related factors of transgender women (TW), cisgender women (CW) and cisgender men (CM) amateur volleyball players. Methods This was a cross-sectional study comprising TW, CW and CM amateur volleyball players eligible with the following characteristics: ‘gender incongruent’ (for TW only); age between 18 and 35 years; body mass index (BMI) between 18.0 and 29.9 kg/m 2 ; ‘very active’ according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and engaged in regular volleyball training for at least 1 year. All participants were assessed for body composition, blood biomarkers, handgrip strength, countermovement jump height (CMJ), squat jump height (SQJ) and maximum oxygen consumption (V̇O 2max ). Results 69 amateur volleyball players were initially evaluated, but only 23 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study (7 TW, 8 CW and 8 CM). Age (p=0.07) and BMI (p=0.26) were similar between groups. Estradiol (p=0.47), total testosterone (p=1.00) and haemoglobin (p=1.00) levels did not differ between TW and CW. However, analysis not adjusted by confounding variables showed that CM presented higher testosterone levels (p<0.001), haemoglobin levels (p=0.03), lean body mass (p=0.03), handgrip strength (p<0.001), CMJ (p<0.001), SQJ (p=0.012) and V̇O 2max (mL/min) (p=0.001) compared with TW. When adjusted by confounding variables, all p values were <0.05, except for SQJ (p=0.062). Conclusion TW athletes displayed similar exercise performance and biomarkers compared with CW but lower results compared with CM.