Abstract
Abstract
Study design
Secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial.
Objectives
Our primary study showed that increasing inspiratory muscle strength with training in people with chronic (>1 year) tetraplegia corresponded with reduced sensations of breathlessness when inspiration was loaded. This study investigated whether respiratory muscle training also affected the respiratory sensations for load detection and magnitude perception.
Setting
Independent research institute in Sydney, Australia.
Methods
Thirty-two adults with chronic tetraplegia participated in a 6-week, supervised training protocol. The active group trained the inspiratory muscles through progressive threshold loading. The sham group performed the same protocol with a fixed threshold load (3.6 cmH2O). Primary measures were load detection threshold and perceived magnitudes of six suprathreshold loads reported using the modified Borg scale.
Results
Maximal inspiratory pressure (Pimax) increased by 32% (95% CI, 18–45) in the active group with no change in the sham group (p = 0.51). The training intervention did not affect detection thresholds in the active (p = 0.24) or sham (p = 0.77) group, with similar overall decreases in Borg rating of 0.83 (95% CI, 0.49–1.17) in active and 0.72 (95% CI, 0.32–1.12) in sham group. Increased inspiratory muscle strength reduced slope magnitude between Borg rating and peak inspiratory pressure (p = 0.003), but not when pressure was divided by Pimax to reflect contraction intensity (p = 0.92).
Conclusions
Training reduces the sensitivity of load sensations for a given change in pressure but not for a given change in contraction intensity.
Funder
Department of Health | National Health and Medical Research Council
Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Neurology (clinical),Neurology,General Medicine