Inspiratory muscle training reduces dyspnea during activities of daily living and improves inspiratory muscle function and quality of life in patients with advanced lung disease

ABSTRACT

Aim: To evaluate the effects of an inspiratory muscle training (IMT) program on dyspnea during activities of daily living, inspiratory muscle function, functional capacity, and quality of life in patients with advanced lung disease (ALD).

Methods: Pre-post interventional study in which patients with ALD from the Advanced Lung Disease and Pre Lung Transplantation Ambulatory Clinic were included. Patients performed home-based high-intensity interval IMT for 8 weeks (two sessions per day, daily). In each session, patients performed two sets of 30 breaths, with a 2-min rest between sets. Dyspnea during activities of daily life, primary outcome – assessed by the London Chest Activity of Daily Living scale-LCADL, inspiratory muscle function (MIP and endurance test), distance on the 6-min walking test [6MWD], and quality of life (St George Respiratory Questionnaire [SGRQ]) were measured pre-IMT, post-IMT, and 3 months after the intervention (follow-up).

Results: Dyspnea during activities of daily living significantly decreased after 8 weeks of IMT (LCADL_pre = 31.5 [IQR = 23–37.25], LCADL_post = 26 [IQR = 20.75–32], LCADL_follow-up = 30.5 [IQR = 20–35]; p < .03). After IMT, there was an improvement in inspiratory muscle strength (p < .001) and endurance (p < .001). Functional capacity evaluated using the 6MWD increased but did not reach significance (p = .79) There was also a significant improvement in quality of life, as demonstrated by the SGRQ (p < .004).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that IMT was able to reduce dyspnea during activities of daily living, as well as improve inspiratory muscle function, and quality of life in patients with ADL, and these benefits were sustained for 3 months.

KEYWORDS:

• Physiotherapy
• inspiratory muscles training
• lung diseases
• breathing exercises
• rehabilitation

Declaration of Interest

No conflicts of interest are declared by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (Finance Code 001); Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (Grants 442973/2014-4 and 309990/2017-3) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG).