Chest Wall Mobility Is Related to Respiratory Muscle Strength and Lung Volumes in Healthy Subjects

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Chest wall mobility is often measured in clinical practice, but the correlations between chest wall mobility and respiratory muscle strength and lung volumes are unknown. We investigate the associations between chest wall mobility, axillary and thoracic cirtometry values, respiratory muscle strength (maximum inspiratory pressure and maximum expiratory pressure), and lung volumes (expiratory reserve volume, FEV 1 , inspiratory capacity, FEV 1 /FVC), and the determinants of chest mobility in healthy subjects. METHODS: In 64 healthy subjects we measured inspiratory capacity, FVC, FEV 1 , expiratory reserve volume, maximum inspiratory pressure, and maximum expiratory pressure, and chest wall mobility via axillary and thoracic cirtometry. We used linear regression to evaluate the influence of the measured variables on chest wall mobility. RESULTS: The subjects' mean ؎ SD values were: age 24 ؎ 3 years, axillary cirtometry 6.3 ؎ 2.0 cm, thoracic cirtometry 7.5 ؎ 2.3 cm; maximum inspiratory pressure 90.4 ؎ 10.6% of predicted, maximum expiratory pressure 92.8 ؎ 13.5% of predicted, inspiratory capacity 99.7 ؎ 8.6% of predicted, FVC 101.9 ؎ 10.6% of predicted, FEV 1 98.2 ؎ 10.3% of predicted, expiratory reserve volume 90.9 ؎ 19.9% of predicted. There were significant correlations between axillary cirtometry and FVC (r ‫؍‬ 0.32), FEV 1 (r ‫؍‬ 0.30), maximum inspiratory pressure (r ‫؍‬ 0.48), maximum expiratory pressure (r ‫؍‬ 0.25), and inspiratory capacity (r ‫؍‬ 0.24), and between thoracic cirtometry and FVC (r ‫؍‬ 0.50), FEV 1 (r ‫؍‬ 0.48), maximum inspiratory pressure (r ‫؍‬ 0.46), maximum expiratory pressure (r ‫؍‬ 0.37), inspiratory capacity (r ‫؍‬ 0.39), and expiratory reserve volume (r ‫؍‬ 0.47). In multiple regression analysis the variable that best explained the axillary cirtometry variation was maximum inspiratory pressure (R 2 0.23), and for thoracic cirtometry it was FVC and maximum inspiratory pressure (R 2 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Chest mobility in healthy subjects is related to respiratory muscle strength and lung function; the higher the axillary cirtometry and thoracic cirtometry values, the greater the maximum inspiratory pressure, maximum expiratory pressure, and lung volumes in healthy subjects.

Neurodegenerative Disorders Increase Decline in Respiratory Muscle Strength in Older Adults

“…32 When we undertook the cirtometric evaluation of all subjects and observed statistical similarity between groups in the comparisons of the thoracic amplitude (normal respiration, maximum inspiration and expiration), we provided support to affirm that this factor does not exercise any influence on the subjects' P Imax and P Emax values. In addition to this, the exclusion of patients with possible alterations in the thoracic dynamic (commonly present in cases of barrel chest, pigeon chest, excavatum, carinatum, or kyphoscoliotic), made it possible for us to isolate this bias in the sample selection.…”

Análise da mobilidade toracoabdominal de idosos com doença de parkinson, submetidos ao treinamento funcional, bicicleta estacionária e exergame: um ensaio clínico randomizado

“…Os valores de normalidade para o coeficiente de amplitude e a diferença entre a inspiração e a expiração máximas são citados na literatura, variando de 6 a 7cm, e de 5 a 11cm, sendo que medidas de 3 a 4cm já estariam relacionadas a uma perda de 20% da capacidade pulmonar 21,22 . Nos resultados demonstrados no Quadro 2, os valores variam de 3 a 8cm em média, considerando o desvio padrão.…”

Pacientes com doença de Parkinson sob assistência fisioterapêutica apresentam parâmetros pulmonares melhores do que controles sedentários

“…Thoracic mobility may represent a direction for studies that address the subjects' pulmonary function characteristics, as it has direct influence on patients' respiratory muscle strength 24 . In conducting the cirtometric assessment of all participants and observing statistical similarity among the groups in the comparisons of thoracic amplitude, we verified that such factor had no influence on the subjects' values for spirometry and impulse oscillometry.…”