D.A. Ul'yanov
Volgograd State University, Volgograd

Key words: special medical department, body morphofunctional state, physical fitness, somatic health.

Introduction. In recent years new educational technologies have been offered that implement the basic requirements for selection of exercises, adequate to state of health and physical fitness of students of the special medical department.

Experts believe that one of the solutions to this problem can be to use individual estimate of the level of students' physical abilities as effectiveness criteria of medical-pedagogical control in physical education of students of special medical groups [2-4].

The purpose of the research was to identify the peculiarities of changes in the indices of morphofunctional state, physical fitness and somatic health in various groups of students of the special medical department of Volgograd State University.

Research methods. We considered morphofunctional indices of 1-5th year students, male and female, and analyzed the following characteristics: body length and weight, chest circumference (CC), carpal dynamometry, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), Stange's test (timed inspiratory capacity), Genchi's test (timed expiratory capacity), vital capacity (VC) (Table 1).

Results and discussion. The body length indices of students of the special medical department did not change significantly throughout the university studies, indicating that the body stopped growing in this group of students. In contrast to body length, the body mass index of students varied significantly during their university studies.

Averages weight characteristics of male first-year students (69.3 ± 1.2 kg) and graduates (76.1 ± 1.3 kg) were significantly different (9.8%, p<0.01). These students gain weight intensively during the 4^th and 5^th years of study after the obligatory physical education classes are over.

The body mass indices of the female students changed the same way: the weight increases most intensively in the last two years of study (12.2%, p<0.001).

The CC indices of both males and females tend to increase throughout studying at university, but this tendency is questionable considering the related courses. However, comparing the data of the first-year students and graduates, significant differences of average values were detected: males - 3.1% (p<0.05); females - 2.6% (p<0.05).

The indicators of carpal dynamometry of the students undulated throughout the period of study: the highest level of this characteristic is observed in the 3^rd and 1^st years. Despite these figures, no significant differences were detected in the analyzed parameters between the adjacent groups of students. The SBP indices increased by 12.6% (p <0.001) for male students and by 9.6% (p <0.001) - for female students. These characteristics of students increase throughout the study but the changes are insignificant in most of the adjacent groups except for the results of 4^th-year students. The DBP indices have the same dynamics for both male and female students.

We detected the following undulation of HR characteristics at rest: the decrease in the first years (1st-3rd) and the increase in the last ones (4th-5th years). A significant increase takes place in the 4^th year (2.5%, p<0.05) for male students and in the 5^th year (2.2%, p <0.05) for female students.

In our study we used the tests of Stange and Genchi and the VC indices to characterize the functionality of the respiratory system. For first-year male students the timed inspiratory capacity (Stange's test) amounted to 46.4 ± 1.0 s, the timed expiratory capacity (Genchi's test) - 19.6 ± 0.4 s. These figures were lower for females but the trends of changes were similar: the significant worsening of Stange's test indices for female students was observed in the 4^th year (7.4%, p <0.05) and for male students - in the 5^th year (7.8%, p<0.05). A significant decrease in the Genchi's test indices was marked only for 5^th-year male students (7.8%, p<0.05).

The changes in VC indices are undulatory but these indices decreased significantly only in 4^th-year male students (4.9%, p<0.05). Thus, the obligatory physical education classes for junior students of the special medical department contribute to the improvement of the morphofunctional state, but the given characteristics get significantly worse upon completion of the classes.

Next, we analyzed the dynamics of physical fitness indices of students of the special medical department of various years of study (Table 1). The 100 meter run indices significantly improved for the 3^rd-year students (males) (1.4%, p<0.05) and were significantly worse for the 4^th-year students (4.4%, p<0.001).

During the first three years of study the standing long jump indices were slightly improving (from 188.4 to 198.5 cm) and then worsening significantly in the 4^th (4.2%, p<0.05) and 5^th year (4.1%, p<0.05).

The results of the alternation of 3000 m running and walking changed differently: it significantly improved among the 3^rd (1.4%, p<0.05) and 5^th-year (1.9%, p<0.05) students.        

Junior students show consistent insignificant improvement in pull-ups up to the 4^th year of study, when the pull-ups indices worsen significantly (20.8%, p<0.01). Female students of the special medical department show a similar pattern of change in the physical fitness indices: during the first three years improvement is marked in the indices of 100 m run, low bar pull-ups (2^nd year), standing long jump and alternation of 2000 m running and walking (3^rd year), followed by worsening of the indices during the last two years of study: 100 m run, standing long jump, alternation of 2000 m running and walking and low bar pull-ups - during the 4^th year; 100 m and alternation of 2000 m running and walking - during the 5^th year.

Thus, the specific positive impact of physical training on the physical fitness level of students is obvious.

In addition, we studied changes in the somatic health indices of the students of the special medical department in different years of study, which amounted to 3.71 ± 0.20 and 3.78 ± 0.21 c.u. on the average for male and female 1^st-year students respectively (Figure 1). The somatic health indices of 2^nd-year students increased insignificantly for both males (13.5%, p<0.05) and females (9.5%, p<0.05). 3^rd-year students had their indices increased significantly (males - 20.9%, p<0.05; females - 18.4%, p<0.05), while the indices of 4^th-year students, on the opposite, decreased sharply (males - 31.4%, p<0.01; females - 30.8%, p<0.01).

Figure 1. The dynamics of somatic health indices of the students of the special medical department

Due to further worsening of these indices during the 5^th year of study they reach the low level of development and amount to 2.42 and 2.31 c.u. for male and female students respectively. The findings confirmed the importance of physical education classes for the formation of somatic health of students of the special medical department. The analysis of the structure of diseases of the students of the special medical department revealed a wide range of them including: diseases of the cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system, respiratory system, eye diseases, digestive diseases, diseases of the urinary system, gynecological disorders, diseases of the endocrine system, nervous system, of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. Such a distribution of students of the special medical department based on the type of disease will, on the one hand, help improve the quality of the educational process and provide a rational selection of means for different typological groups of students, but, on the other hand, a large number of differentiations in such conditions of the educational process can seriously complicate the improvement of students’ health. We believe it is necessary to divide students according to specific types of diseases, characterized by certain typological features of health-improving motor activities. In this regard, the university teachers (n = 15) with over 15 years of experience with students of the special medical department were surveyed.

The majority (73.3%) of specialists mainly sticks to traditional methods of organization of the educational process, except for some cases when they try to differentiate means of health-improving physical culture. The teachers experienced great difficulties with the methodological support of the educational process and differentiated selection of means considering particular diseases of students.

The survey showed that some of the teachers (53.3%) divided students depending on the physical fitness level while others (33.3%) - depending on the somatic health status and only a few (13.4%) tried to use particular training means in view of their disease. They distinguished the following subgroups of students: the first one included students with the diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous systems; the second one - the diseases of the digestive, urogenital and endocrine systems and eye diseases; the third one included those with the diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

The obtained data were checked using the single-factor analysis of variance. The integral indicator included the levels of health, physical fitness and physical development.

The impact of each previously submitted factor on the change in the integral index of the students of the special medical department has different levels of significance: classes in view of the group of diseases - 19.7%, the level of somatic health - 14.0% and the physical fitness level - 11.5%.

In order to achieve better pedagogical effect, we tried to integrate these factors: the exercises were selected in view of the type of disease, the dosage of training was determined according to the physical fitness level and the duration of the series of exercises depended on the level of somatic health. Thanks to this combination of factors the indicator of analysis of variance can be increased up to 24.7%.

In this regard, we tried to classify the indicators of morphofunctional state, physical fitness and somatic health considering the group of diseases of 194 first-year students. The first year was chosen to neutralize the impact of university classes. The body length indices do not differ among the first-year students having different diseases. The body weight indices were significantly different only among the female students of the first and second groups (6.5%, p<0.05). Male students of the first and third groups (4.8%, p<0.05) and both males and females of the first group had a higher level of SBP, which differed significantly from that in the third group and of the female students assigned to the second group.

The students of the second group had better indices of HR at rest, which differed significantly from the corresponding results of the first group. Male and female students of the first group were significantly inferior to their peers of the second and third groups. According to the results of VC the advantage of the third group was obvious in comparison with the similar characteristics for the first group of students.

The difference in physical fitness indices of the students assigned to different disease groups was less pronounced (compared to morphofunctional parameters). The differences were detected in the running tests (100 m, 3000 m, 2000 m run - for females). The greatest differences were marked in the results of the first and third groups (the significance level was mostly equal to one percent).

The standing long jump and pull-ups (low bar - for females) indices differed insignificantly among the students assigned to various disease groups, though the values varied. The somatic health indices differed significantly especially among the students of the first and third groups.

Conclusions. The morphofunctional state, physical fitness and somatic health indices differed significantly in many respects in students assigned to different disease groups and require a differentiated approach.

References

1. Wrzhesnevsky, I.I. Assessment of physical capabilities of students in the system of medical-pedagogical monitoring in physical education of the special department of higher school: abstract of Ph.D. thesis. – Kiev, 2011. (In Russian)
2. Grigor'eva, S.A. Expert evaluation of coordinating abilities, professionally important for bachelors in economy // Uch. zapiski un-ta im. P.F. Lesgafta, 2011. – № 5 (75). – P. 47–50. (In Russian)
3. Zhmykhova, A.Yu. Correctional orientation of physical training of students of special medical group based on their morphofunctional characteristics: Ph.D. thesis. – Мoscow, 2010. – 219 P. (In Russian)
4. Rumba, O.G. System mechanisms regulating motor activity of students of special medical groups: monograph. - Belgorod: LitKaraVan, 2011. – 460 P. (In Russian)

Corresponding author: tatyana.kovalenko@volsu.ru