INSPIRATORY MUSCLE TRAINING IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY-DISEASE

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Abstract
To investigate the effects of inspiratory muscle resistive loading training (IMT) on exercise performance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 13 patients undergoing standard pulmonary rehabilitation were divided into control (n = 6) and experimental (n = 7) groups. Prior to training, inspiratory muscle strength and endurance, resting pulmonary function, and exercise performance was measured on a bicycle ergometer (a progressive test and an endurance test at 2/3 of maximal work load). Their resistive loads for training were determined by measuring their 10-min maximal sustainable resistance. Training by patients in the experimental group involved inspiring against a predetermined resistive load. The control subjects breathed through a sham training tube, so that studies were performed in double-blind fashion. The training consisted of 15-min sessions twice daily for 4 wk. The IMT dramatically improved inspiratory muscle endurance-represented as either sustainable inspiratory pressure (SIP) or endurance time at 60% of maximal inspiratory mouth pressure (PIMmax) at functional residual capacity. The SIP of the trained group increased from 29 .+-. 11 to 46 .+-. 11% of PIMmax (P < 0.005). Training slightly increased inspiratory muscle strength (P < 0.05), as determined by PIMmax. Resting pulmonary function and performance of both progressive and constant-load exercise remained unchanged. Four week IMT in a pulmonary rehabilitation setting improves inspiratory muscle endurance in patients with COPD without changing pulmonary function or exercise performance.