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Cardiorespiratory response during physical therapist intervention for infants and young children with chronic

Helene M Dumas1, Maria A Fragala-Pinkham, Elaine L Rosen

  • 1Research Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs, Franciscan Hospital for Children, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. hdumas@fhfc.org

Pediatric Physical Therapy : the Official Publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association
|April 2, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Physical therapists can safely monitor young children with chronic respiratory insufficiency during interventions. Cardiorespiratory responses remained stable, indicating tolerance to various activities.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Physical Therapy
  • Pulmonary Rehabilitation
  • Cardiorespiratory Physiology

Background:

  • Chronic respiratory insufficiency in young children presents unique challenges for rehabilitation.
  • Optimizing physical therapist interventions requires understanding their impact on cardiorespiratory status.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To document physical therapist intervention activities.
  • To assess cardiorespiratory response in young children with chronic respiratory insufficiency during these interventions.

Main Methods:

  • Twelve prematurely born children (6-30 months) undergoing inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation were studied.
  • A second physical therapist monitored intervention activities, heart rate (HR), oxygen saturation (SaO2), and respiratory rate over 3 sessions.
  • Data analysis included calculating median cardiorespiratory measures per activity and comparing them using ANOVA.

Main Results:

  • Sitting activities were most common; prone activities were least frequent.
  • Median cardiorespiratory measures were within age-appropriate reference standards.
  • No adverse effects were observed, and no significant differences in HR or SaO2 were found across different intervention activities.

Conclusions:

  • Young children with chronic respiratory insufficiency demonstrate tolerance to physical therapist interventions.
  • Close monitoring by physical therapists is crucial for ensuring safety and efficacy in this population.
Abstract

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