Correlation between skeletal muscle mass index and parameters of respiratory function and muscle strength in young healthy adults according to gender.
Yohei Sawaya, Masahiro Ishizaka, Akira Kubo and 6 others
PMID 30568328WHAT IT FOUND
In healthy young adults, skeletal muscle mass correlated with respiratory function in both genders, but only men showed correlations with respiratory muscle strength.
Women’s muscle mass related to lung capacity but not strength. This links body composition to breathing mechanics, differing by sex.
Key findings
01Skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) showed a positive correlation with all measured respiratory function and muscle strength parameters in the total group.
02In men, SMI correlated with respiratory function (excluding inspiratory and expiratory reserve volumes) and with expiratory muscle strength (PEmax and PEpeak).
03In women, SMI correlated with all respiratory function measures but showed no association with respiratory muscle strength.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study included only young, healthy university students, so results cannot be generalized to older adults or those with respiratory diseases like COPD. The sample size was small and limited to one university department. Only univariate analysis was performed; multivariate analysis was not used to control for other factors like body size or fat. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that muscle mass causes better respiratory function.
Declared interests
The work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that increasing skeletal muscle mass will improve respiratory muscle strength in all patients. In women, the study found no correlation between limb muscle mass and respiratory muscle strength, unlike in men. Additionally, these findings apply to healthy young adults and may not hold for elderly patients or those with respiratory disease.