The effect of the inspiratory muscle training on functional ability in stroke patients.
Nam-Jin Jung, Sang-Su Na, Seung-Kyu Kim and 1 others
PMID 29200632WHAT IT FOUND
Stroke patients who added inspiratory muscle training to neurodevelopmental therapy had greater increases in 6-minute walking distance and trunk scores than those receiving therapy alone.
The training group's walking distance changed by 36.0 meters, and the control group's by minus 1.0 meters.
Key findings
01The inspiratory muscle training group changed by 36.0 meters on the 6-minute walk and 3.4 on the trunk impairment scale, while the control group changed by minus 1.0 meters and 1.2.
02In the inspiratory muscle training group, 6-minute walking distance increased from 151.2 meters to 187.2 meters and trunk impairment scale score increased from 12.3 to 15.7.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 10 participants were assigned to each group, so the study is small. The paper does not describe how randomisation was done, and it does not report blinding. The paper does not report whether any assigned participants dropped out. Participants had to sit and walk independently and score at least 24 on the Mini-Mental State Examination-Korean, so the results may not apply to more severely impaired stroke patients. The paper does not state a pre-specified primary outcome, so the positive result is based on the reported walking and trunk scores. Both groups received neurodevelopmental physical therapy, so the within-group improvements cannot be attributed to inspiratory muscle training alone.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that inspiratory muscle training alone caused the improvement. Both groups received neurodevelopmental physical therapy for 30 minutes 3 times a week for 6 weeks, and the study only shows the effect of adding inspiratory muscle training to that therapy.