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The influence of regular physical activity on lung function in paraplegic people
L Montesinos-Magraner1, L López-Bueno2, A Gómez-Garrido3
1Spinal cord injury unit, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
Study Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Objectives:
The main goal of this study was to examine the influence of regular physical activity (PA) on lung volumes and flows.
Setting:
The study was conducted in the Vall d'Hebrón Hospital, Barcelona (Spain), and La Fe Hospital, Valencia (Spain).
Methods:
Spirometric tests were performed to 67 paraplegics, and differences were established between the active group (AG) (n=37) that performed >60 min per week of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and 30 non-AG (NAG). Further, we established the relationship between the spirometric and PA variables and between being active and reaching the lower limit of normal (LLN) of the spirometric variables.
Results:
AG had greater values than the NAG: FVC (P<0.01), FEV1 (P<0.01) and PEF (P<0.01). Moderate correlations between the MVPA and FVC (r=0.41, P<0.01) and the MVPA and FEV1 (r=0.39, P<0.01) were obtained. The relationship between being physically active and reaching the LLN was statistically significant for FEV1 (χ2=6.184, P<0.05) but not for FVC (P>0.05).
Conclusions:
The performance of MVPA for a minimum of 60 min per week can have a beneficial effect, both on lung volumes and on expiratory flow, and led to an achievement of the LLN in FEV1.
