Timed immersion expiration measures in patients with muscular dystrophies.

There was no untreated control group, so one-year changes cannot be separated from the natural course of muscular dystrophies. Participants received physical therapy, respiratory therapy, aquatic therapy, occupational therapy, pedagogic supervision, medical supervision, nutritional supervision, air stacking, cough assist machines when needed, and steroids if they had Duchenne muscular dystrophy, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The dose of conventional and aquatic exercises was not controlled; each therapist set the routine. The nose blowing improvement had a p-value of 0.049, close to the significance threshold. All participants had leg function graded 2 to 8 on the Vignos scale and were already adapted to aquatic therapy, so the findings may not apply to patients outside that range or to patients new to water.

Do not read the longer nose blowing time as proof that aquatic therapy improved respiratory control. Participants also received physical therapy, respiratory therapy, aquatic therapy, occupational therapy, pedagogic supervision, medical supervision, nutritional supervision, air stacking, cough assist machines when needed, and steroids if they had Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and there was no untreated control group.