Abstract
Background: Respiratory muscle function may impact dyspnea and quality of life in patients with asthma.
Aim: To investigate if high-intensity home-based inspiratory muscle training (IMT) is effective in improving strength and endurance of the inspiratory muscles, functional capacity and quality of life in patients with asthma.
Methods: Randomised trial. 28 patients with controlled mild-severe asthma [no smokers, 8 males, 43(13) years old] were assessed. Patients were randomised to IMT group: 5 days/week for 8 weeks with a load ≥50% of maximal inspiratory pressure-MIP adjusted weekly (PowerBreathe® K3, Hab, UK) in 6 sets of 30 breaths/day, divided into 2 sessions/day, plus two sessions of educational program or to Control group: 2 sessions of educational program only. Inspiratory endurance time, functional capacity (Incremental Shuttle Walking Test-ISWT) and quality of life (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire-AQLQ) were evaluated before and after interventions. ANOVA 2x2 and LSD post-hoc used for statistics (α=0.05).
Results: Table shows improvements on strength, endurance and quality of life in IMT group. No differences were observed on functional capacity.
Conclusions: Our data suggest that inspiratory muscle training can improve inspiratory strength and endurance, as well as quality of life in patients with asthma.
- Copyright ©the authors 2017