[Measurement of respiratory muscle performance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]

Respiratory muscle performance is measured in terms of strength and endurance. A RMSE-1 type measuring system for evaluation of respiratory muscle strength (RMS) and endurance (RME) has been developed and tested in normal subjects and patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The results showed that there was no significant difference between normal subjects and stable COPD patients in RMS measured as maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) and maximum expiratory pressure (MEP). The maximum load (Load(m)), mean mouth pressure at maximum load (Pmean), and the maximum sustainable inspiratory pressure (SIP(m)) as % MIP (SIP(m)/MIP) were taken as measure of RME. All measures of RME in COPD group were much lower than those in the normal. The measurement of RME can be used to evaluate the effect of respiratory muscle training and direct the respiratory rehabilitation in COPD patients.