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Effect of thoracic manipulation on pulmonary functions among sedentary university students
Nishtha Aggarwal1, Jaspreet Kaur1, Manoj Malik1
1Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, India.
Background:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to increased sedentary lifestyles among university students. They use smartphones, laptops, and computers often, and sometimes, their desks and chairs are of inappropriate height. All these lead to spinal abnormalities, leading to decreased pulmonary functions.
Aim And Objective:
To explore the effect of thoracic manipulation on pulmonary functions among university students.
Design:
Within-subject pre-post quasi-experimental study.
Methods:
Eighty healthy university students (25 males, 55 females) were enrolled as per the physical activity status (RAPA<2). Thoracic manipulation was given at mid-thoracic (T4-T8) in the supine position. Pulmonary functions were evaluated through desktop spirometry both pre and post-intervention. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), Forced expiratory flow at 25 %-75 % of FVC (FEF25-75 %), and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) were taken as outcome variables.
Results:
The results reveal a significant increase in FVC and FEV1 after the application of thoracic mobilization (p = 0.028). Similarly, a highly significant increase is found in PEFR and FEF25-75 % as p < 0.01 for both variables. The improvement is also found in MVV. However, the results are not statistically significant, with p = 0.053.
Conclusion:
A single session of thoracic manipulation may increase FVC, FEV1, PEFR, and FEF25-75 %. However, no significant improvement was found in MVV. Further, long-term effects should be observed to authenticate these findings.
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