A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Acute Carbohydrate Supplementation on Blood Glucose and Performance in Football
Description
This dataset supports a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effects of acute carbohydrate (CHO) or carbohydrate-electrolyte (CHO-E) supplementation on blood glucose, physical performance and football-specific skill performance during football-specific exercise. The research hypothesis was that acute CHO/CHO-E supplementation would help maintain blood glucose during football-specific exercise and may have favourable effects on selected performance outcomes. The repository includes the final analysis-ready dataset, study-level extracted data, study characteristics tables, sensitivity-analysis files, statistical code and run logs. The data were extracted from published randomised parallel-group or crossover trials involving healthy football players. Key variables include study identifiers, participant characteristics, intervention and comparator conditions, outcome domains, measurement time points, effect sizes, standard errors, subpool classifications, risk-of-bias information and sensitivity-analysis indicators. The data can be used to reproduce the main meta-analyses, sensitivity analyses and selected graphical summaries reported in the manuscript. Blood glucose outcomes are interpreted using mean differences, whereas physical and skill performance outcomes are interpreted using standardised mean change for paired designs. Positive harmonised effect sizes indicate effects favouring CHO/CHO-E supplementation. Users should interpret the findings in light of the limited number of studies in several subpools and the high heterogeneity observed for blood glucose outcomes.