PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Rokhsaneh Tehrany
AU  - Anne Bruton
AU  - Anna Barney
TI  - Regional contributions of the ribcage and abdomen before and after a six week pulmonary rehabilitation programme
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2015.PA3545
DP  - 2015 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - PA3545
VI  - 46
IP  - suppl 59
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA3545.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA3545.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2015 Sep 01; 46
AB  - Background: Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) has been repeatedly shown to improve a number of patient centred outcomes, however the literature examining any impact on lung mechanics is limited, despite the fact that many PR programmes include interventions to alter breathing pattern.Aim: To compare the regional contributions of the ribcage (RC) and abdomen (AB) before and after a six week PR programme in patients with chronic respiratory disease during different breathing and speech tasks.Method: Twenty patients (mean age 69.7±8.81) with COPD (n=14) and Bronchiectasis (n=6) were recruited from the respiratory outpatients department in a UK NHS hospital. Breathing patterns were recorded non-invasively using Respiratory Inductive Plethysmography (RIP) on the first and last day of PR during four tasks (quiet breathing, reading, spontaneous speech and counting), where four breathing parameters were extracted; contribution of the RC and AB during inspiration (%RCInsp; %ABInsp) and expiration (%RCExp; %ABExp).Results: On average, the percentage contribution of the RC during inspiration and expiration was found to increase, while AB contributions were found to decrease following a six week PR programme. These changes were statistically significant for the %RCExp (t=-6.79, t=-2.28, p=0.04) and %ABExp (t=6.64, p=0.04) during the quiet breathing task.Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that the contributions of the lower RC and AB wall during tidal breathing alter following a six week PR programme in patients with chronic respiratory disease. Future trials with control groups are needed to confirm whether PR has any impact on lung mechanics.