Deviation in the recovery of the lower limb and respiratory muscles of patients with polymyositis: a preliminary clinical study.
Yuichi Nishikawa, Naohisa Hosomi, Hiroki Ueno and 8 others
PMID 27799713WHAT IT FOUND
Five people with polymyositis who received physiotherapy and prednisolone for four weeks showed improved leg strength, breathing muscle pressures, and daily function.
Inspiratory muscle pressure improved less than expiratory muscle pressure. Because both treatments were given together, their separate effects cannot be identified.
Key findings
01After four weeks, all patients had significantly higher knee extensor strength, maximal inspiratory mouth pressure, maximal expiratory mouth pressure, percent vital capacity, and Barthel Index scores than at baseline.
02The improvement in expiratory muscle strength was greater than the improvement in inspiratory muscle strength.
03All patients completed the intervention, and the paper reports that creatine kinase values did not change during the intervention.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only five patients were studied at a single center, so the findings may not apply to other patients with polymyositis. There was no control group, so the study cannot show that physiotherapy alone caused the changes. Prednisolone was given with physiotherapy for all patients, so the contribution of each treatment cannot be separated. The intervention lasted only four weeks, so longer-term effects are unknown. No swallowing or dysphagia outcomes were measured, although the introduction discusses dysphagia. The paper states creatine kinase values did not change, while the results table lists creatine kinase values at baseline and after intervention, so this finding is not clearly reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physiotherapy alone caused the improvements. The patients also received prednisolone, there was no control group, and only five patients were studied, so the separate contribution of physiotherapy cannot be determined.