Evaluating pulmonary function, aerobic capacity, and pediatric quality of life following a 10-week aerobic exercise training in school-aged asthmatics: a randomized controlled trial

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flow diagram showing participants in the study.

Abbreviation: Con ttt, conventional treatment group.

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of all children participating in this study

Variables	AE group (n=19)	Con group (n=19)	p-value
Gender, n (%)
Male	12 (63.2)	11 (57.9)	0.6842
Female	7 (36.8)	8 (42.1)
Age (years)	9.84±1.76	10.04±1.52	0.7100
Height (cm)	136.3±9.6	134.4±10.8	0.5701
Weight (kg)	39.4±7.6	40.2±7.2	0.7410
BMI (kg/m^2)	21.3±3.02	22.13±4.1	0.4820
FEV1 %pred	71±8.2	70.3±9.1	0.8047
FVC %pred	79.4±11.4	78.6±12.2	0.8357
Aerobic capacity
VO2max (mL/kg/min)	39.72±6.18	40.09±5.45	0.8459
6MWT (m)	452.64±43.26	478.51±49.17	0.0937
Fatigue index	548.21±131.72	573.42±136.67	0.5662
PAQLQ scores
Overall PQoL	5.2±1.2	5.3±0.91	0.7739
Activity scores	4.8±0.74	4.9±0.65	0.6607
Symptom scores	4.5±0.62	4.6±0.83	0.6764
Emotion scores	5.5±0.68	5.7±0.79	0.4085

Notes: Significant at p<0.05. Data presented as mean±SD.

Abbreviations: AE, aerobic exercise; Con, conventional; BMI, body mass index; FVC, forced vital capacity; FEV₁, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; VO_2max, maximal oxygen uptake; 6MWT, 6-minute walk test; PAQLQ, Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire; PQoL, pediatric quality of life.

Table 2 Pre- and post-treatment mean differences of BMI, lung functions, aerobic capacity, and HRQoL within each group

Variables	AE group			Con group
	Pre	Post	p-value	Pre	Post	p-value
BMI (kg/m^2)	21.3±3.02	20.1±2.82	0.214	22.13±4.1	22.21±4.6	0.955
Lung functions
FEV1 %pred	71±8.2	83.6±5.3	0.001*	70.3±9.1	75.9±7.6	0.047*
FVC %pred	79.4±11.4	94.7±8.5	0.001*	78.6±12.2	86.1±9.5	0.041*
Aerobic capacity
VO2max (mL/kg/min)	39.72±6.18	59.8±4.7	0.001*	40.09±5.45	48.7±6.5	0.011*
6 MWT (m)	452.64±43.26	673.25±75.37	0.001*	478.51±49.17	513.42±67.56	0.077
Fatigue index	548.21±131.72	451.82±118.7	0.023*	573.42±136.67	687.54±160.38	0.063
PAQLQ
Overall PQoL	5.2±1.2	7.4±1.6	0.001*	5.3±0.91	5.8±1.32	0.182
Activity scores	4.8±0.74	6.9±1.2	0.001*	4.9±0.65	5.1±1.21	0.529
Symptom scores	4.5±0.62	6.4±0.53	0.001*	4.6±0.83	4.8±1.52	0.618
Emotion scores	5.5±0.68	7.6±0.57	0.001*	5.7±0.79	5.9±1.23	0.554

Note:

* Significant at p<0.05.

Abbreviations: AE, aerobic exercise; Con, conventional; BMI, body mass index; FVC, forced vital capacity; FEV₁, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; VO_2max, maximal oxygen uptake; 6MWT, 6-minute walk test; PAQLQ, Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire; PQoL, pediatric quality of life; HRQoL, health-related quality of life.

Table 3 Mean differences of BMI, lung functions, aerobic capacity, and HRQoL between the two groups pre- and post-treatment

Variables	Pre-treatment			Post-treatment
	AE group	Con group	p-value	AE group	Con group	p-value
BMI (kg/m^2)	21.3±3.02	22.13±4.1	0.4820	20.1±2.52	22.21±4.6	0.088
Lung functions
FEV1 %pred	71±8.2	70.3±9.1	0.8047	83.6±5.3*	75.9±7.6*	0.002
FVC %pred	79.4±11.4	78.6±12.2	0.8357	94.7±8.5*	86.1±9.5*	0.006
Aerobic capacity
VO2max (mL/kg/min)	39.72±6.18	40.09±5.45	0.8459	59.8±4.7*	48.7±6.5*	0.001
6 MWT (m)	452.64±43.26	478.51±49.17	0.0937	673.25±75.37*	513.42±67.56	0.001
Fatigue index	548.21±131.72	573.42±136.67	0.5662	451.82±118.72*	687.54±160.38	0.001
PAQLQ
Overall PQoL	5.2±1.2	5.3±0.91	0.7739	7.4±1.6*	5.8±1.32	0.018
Activity scores	4.8±0.74	4.9±0.65	0.6607	6.9±1.2*	5.1±1.21	0.001
Symptom scores	4.5±0.62	4.6±0.83	0.6764	6.4±0.53*	4.8±1.52	0.001
Emotion scores	5.5±0.68	5.7±0.79	0.4085	7.6±0.57*	5.9±1.23	0.001

Note:

* Significant at p<0.05.

Abbreviations: AE, aerobic exercise; Con, conventional; BMI, body mass index; FVC, forced vital capacity; FEV₁, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; VO_2max, maximal oxygen uptake; 6MWT, 6-minute walk test; PAQLQ, Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire; PQoL, pediatric quality of life; HRQoL, health-related quality of life.

Table 4 Gender differences in the pre- and post-treatment mean values of BMI, lung functions, aerobic capacity, and HRQoL in the AE and Con groups

Variables	AE group (n=19)					Con group (n=19)
	Pre-treatment		Post-treatment		p-value	Pre-treatment		Post-treatment		p-value
	M (n=12)	F (n=7)	M (n=12)	F (n=7)		M (n=11)	F (n=8)	M (n=11)	F (n=8)
BMI (kg/m^2)	21.5±3.06	21.1±2.98	19.9±2.71*	20.3±2.93*	0.766	21.98±3.9	22.28±4.3	22.4±4.9*	22.02±4.3*	0.863
Pulmonary functions
FEV1 %pred	71.2±8.5	70.8±7.9	84.7±5.5*	82.5±5.1*	0.401	70.7±9.4	69.9±8.8	76.8±7.5*	74.6±7.7*	0.541
FVC %pred	79.7±11.9	79.1±10.9	95.9±8.8*	93.5±8.2*	0.565	79.1±12.6	78.1±11.8	87.2±9.8*	85±9.2*	0.626
Aerobic capacity
VO2max (mL/kg/min)	40.91±6.18	38.53±6.18	60.7±5.1*	58.9±4.3*	0.444	41.08±5.66	39±5.24	49.8±6.6	47.6±6.4	0.477
6 MWT (m)	474.42±47.18	430.86±39.34	691.29±72.41*	655.21±78.33*	0.323	497.7±51.32	459.32±47.02	529.51±70.67	497.33±64.45	0.324
Fatigue index	569.19±134.91	527.32±128.53	445.73±113.6*	457.91±123.8*	0.829	595.53±137.76	551.31±135.58	676.45±163.41	698.66±157.35	0.771
PAQLQ
Overall PQoL	5.3±1.5	5.1±0.9	7.6±1.7*	7.2±1.5*	0.613	5.4±0.84	5.2±0.98	5.9±1.21	5.7±1.43	0.745
Activity scores	4.9±0.87	4.7±0.61	7±1.3*	6.8±1.1*	0.737	4.9±0.86	4.9±0.43	5.2±1.25	5±1.17	0.728
Symptom scores	4.7±0.71	4.3±0.53	6.5±0.6*	6.3±0.46*	0.458	4.7±0.75	4.5±0.91	4.9±1.56	4.7±1.48	0.781
Emotion scores	5.7±0.87	5.3±0.49	7.6±0.54*	7.6±0.6*	0.999	5.7±0.66	5.6±0.92	5.9±1.12	5.9±1.34	0.997

Note:

* Significant at p<0.05.

Abbreviations: AE, aerobic exercise; Con, conventional; M, male; F, female; BMI, body mass index; FVC, forced vital capacity; FEV₁, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; VO_2max, maximal oxygen uptake in mL/kg/min; 6MWT, 6-minute walk test; PAQLQ, Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire; PQoL, pediatric quality of life; HRQoL, health-related quality of life.