Acute group | Chronic group | |||||||||
Sham RMT | Active RMT | Sham RMT | Active RMT | |||||||
Baseline (n=15) | 6 weeks (n=14) | Baseline (n=15) | 6 weeks (n=15) | P value | Baseline (n=17) | 6 weeks (n=16) | Baseline (n=15) | 6 weeks (n=13) | P value | |
Primary outcome | ||||||||||
PImax (cmH2O) | 54.1±20.7 | 57.6±22.7 | 49.2±16.8 | 65.0±18.3 | 0.021 | 49.2±19.1 | 52.7±20.5 | 47.6±27.8 | 62.4±29.4 | 0.011 |
Secondary outcomes | ||||||||||
PEmax (cmH2O) | 38.2±13.4 | 45.6±17.8 | 38.6±22.2 | 47.2±25.4 | 0.832 | 28.8±13.3 | 30.7±15.1 | 27.0±11.0 | 29.0±11.9 | 0.879 |
Lung function | ||||||||||
FEV1 (L) | 2.2±0.8 | 2.3±0.6 | 1.8±0.7 | 1.9±0.8 | 0.988 | 1.7±0.6 | 1.6±0.7 | 1.7±0.8 | 1.7±0.9 | 0.345 |
FVC (L) | 2.9±1.0 | 3.1±0.9 | 2.3±1.0 | 2.6±1.1 | 0.929 | 2.2±0.8 | 2.1±0.8 | 2.3±1.1 | 2.3±1.1 | 0.289 |
Inspiratory capacity (L) | 2.4±0.7 | 2.4±0.8 | 2.0±0.7 | 2.0±0.8 | 0.809 | 1.9±0.6 | 1.8±0.7 | 2.0±0.7 | 1.9±0.8 | 0.907 |
PEFc (L/s) | 4.8±1.7 | 5.1±1.9 | 4.8±1.5 | 5.0±1.6 | 0.792 | 4.5±1.6 | 4.4±1.7 | 4.3±1.4 | 4.4±1.4 | 0.931 |
Vital capacity (L) | 3.1±0.9 | 3.1±0.8 | 2.5±0.8 | 2.8±1.0 | 0.563 | 2.3±0.8 | 2.3±0.9 | 2.4±0.7 | 2.3±1.1 | 0.160 |
Total lung capacity (L) | 5.1±1.5 | 5.4±1.0 | 5.0±0.9 | 5.4±1.0 | 0.601 | 4.6±1.2 | 4.4±1.2 | 4.9±1.3 | 4.7±1.5 | 0.215 |
Respiratory complications (n) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0.390 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.589 |
Quality of life: Short Form-36 (SF-36ww) | ||||||||||
Physical functioning | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 36.4±34.9 | 41.6±38.1 | 38.0±32.2 | 54.0±32.8 | 0.426 |
Role limitations (physical) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 38.2±43.4 | 57.8±46.3 | 50.0±41.2 | 75.0±39.5 | 0.824 |
Role limitations (emotional) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 68.6±44.9 | 75.0±41.3 | 73.4±36.1 | 89.8±21.0 | 0.865 |
Energy/fatigue | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 50.0±21.9 | 51.1±22.6 | 53.0±19.4 | 56.2±27.9 | 0.763 |
Emotional well-being | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 74.8±17.3 | 73.0±26.1 | 74.1±17.2 | 70.1±19.6 | 0.801 |
Social functioning | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 50.8±36.8 | 68.1±30.6 | 67.7±26.2 | 75.2±31.7 | 0.398 |
Pain | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 60.3±26.8 | 71.9±24.6 | 53.9±22.6 | 58.2±28.9 | 0.419 |
General health | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 53.8±26.4 | 60.3±27.0 | 51.3±23.6 | 60.4±28.5 | 0.991 |
Quality of life: EQ-5D VAS | 41.7±18.9 | 61.8±22.7 | 59.3±25.0 | 67.7±24.6 | 0.282 | 66.5±20.1 | 65.0±20.4 | 58.0±17.9 | 70.4±20.0 | 0.023 |
Perceived breathlessness (Borg score) | ||||||||||
At rest | 1.0±1.1 | 0.4±0.5 | 0.8±1.2 | 1.2±1.7 | 0.025 | 0.6±0.9 | 0.5±0.8 | 0.8±1.1 | 0.9±1.4 | 0.340 |
Loaded inspiratory breaths | 3.0±1.6 | 2.3±1.8 | 2.4±1.5 | 1.8±1.5 | 0.907 | 3.8±2.2 | 4.1±2.2 | 3.3±2.5 | 1.6±1.6 | 0.009 |
Loaded expiratory breaths | 4.0±2.2 | 3.4±2.3 | 3.0±1.7 | 2.2±2.0 | 0.768 | 4.5±2.6 | 4.5±2.6 | 3.7±1.7 | 2.8±1.8 | 0.533 |
St George Respiratory Questionnaire | ||||||||||
Symptom severity score | 29.3±15.7 | 28.5±23.3 | 20.7±26.2 | 18.5±17.9 | 0.272 | 14.4±16.4 | 24.3±24.8 | 17.3±24.3 | 19.2±23.9 | 0.136 |
Activity score | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 9.0±12.0 | 4.9±7.6 | 15.6±13.2 | 5.2±3.1 | 0.295 |
Impacts score | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 18.9±18.4 | 14.7±14.9 | 18.5±17.1 | 12.1±10.9 | 0.671 |
Total score | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15.1±12.8 | 13.3±13.1 | 15.4±16.4 | 9.6±9.9 | 0.328 |
Data shown as mean±SD.
One-year follow-up data not shown due to small participant numbers in each group.
N/A as data for this outcome not collected for this group due to the majority of the questions being relevant to people only living at home.
Bold p values indicate significance at level p<0.05.
EQ-5D VAS, EuroQol-Five Dimensional Visual Analogue Scale questionnaire; PEFc, peak expiratory cough flow; PEmax, maximal expiratory pressure; PImax, maximal inspiratory pressure; RMT, respiratory muscle training; SF-36ww, Short Form Health Survey: walk/wheel.