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Cardiopulmonary research

Everything we have read on cardiopulmonary. Each paper is summarised from the full article rather than its abstract, so the limitations are in there too, and the funding wherever the paper declares it.

1,018 PAPERS · PAGE 20 OF 21 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTQualitative2026Caring for a child with a lower respiratory tract infection: Parents' perspectives.The South African journal of physiotherapyCaring for a child under 3 with a chest infection was described as exhausting: lost sleep, missed work and money drained by medicines and visits. Most valued being present during physiotherapy and wanted procedures explained; suctioning looked worse than anything else.
• PTRCT2026Feasibility and Tolerance of High-Intensity Interval Training in Adults With Cystic Fibrosis.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translationIn adults with cystic fibrosis, high-intensity interval training during a three-week inpatient stay was as well tolerated as conventional rehabilitation, with no serious adverse events, and gave similar gains in walking distance and lung function. It added nothing extra and was enjoyed less.
• PTProtocol2026Effects of Whole-Body Electromyostimulation on the Thickness of Appendicular and Respiratory Muscles, Functionality, and Frailty in Patients From a Transitional Care Unit: A Randomized Clinical Trial Protocol.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyNo results are reported yet. This is the published plan for a trial of whole-body electrical stimulation added to physiotherapy in a transitional care unit, so it cannot tell you whether the treatment works.
• PTCohort2026Early mobilization in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a prospective observational study.Physical therapyMobilisation began early for most: 90 of 102 started physical therapy within two weeks of aneurysm repair, a median of four sessions. Barriers such as drowsiness or unstable blood pressure prevented a third of attempts, and 8.3% ended early for safety concerns, none serious.
• PTOther2026Measurement Properties and Minimal Detectable Change of the 6-Min Step Test for Estimating Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Hospitalized Individuals After Stroke.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyThe 6-minute step test gave consistent results when repeated by the same physiotherapist or a different one in 51 people hospitalised early after stroke. A change of 21 steps is needed before a real improvement can be assumed.
• PTOther2026Physical Fitness Profiles Among Children and Adolescents With ADHD and ASD: A Comparison With Typically Developing Peers.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren with ADHD or autism did worse than typically developing classmates on a running test, a fast tapping task and a balance test. Their flexibility and body weight were the same, and the two groups differed only in jumping, which was weaker in autism.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Neonatal Therapy Interventions Supporting Oral Feeding Skills in Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review.Physical & occupational therapy in pediatricsPreterm infants given oral motor stimulation, non-nutritive sucking, swallowing exercises or sensory-based therapy reached full oral feeding sooner than controls, by 4 to 9 days in the studies that found a difference. Effects on weight gain and length of stay were inconsistent.
• PTRCT2026Effects of positive inspiratory and expiratory pressure on diaphragmatic mobility in asymptomatic individuals: Randomised, crossover clinical trial.Hong Kong physiotherapy journal : official publication of the Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association Limited = Wu li chih liaoPositive airway pressure made the diaphragm move more than spontaneous breathing, but only at the higher settings: CPAP 15 cmH2O and bi-level IPAP 10, 12 or 15 with PEEP 5. In healthy young adults, so nothing yet for patients.
• PTOTSystematic Review2023Rehabilitation and COVID-19: systematic review by Cochrane Rehabilitation.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineBreathing exercises, strengthening and telerehabilitation showed some benefit for breathlessness and exercise capacity after COVID across 53 randomised trials, but the evidence is too weak to guide practice. In long COVID, telerehabilitation's improvement in exercise capacity was judged not clinically relevant.
• PTRCT2022Methodologic implications for rehabilitation research: Differences in heart rate variability introduced by respiration.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationNormal breathing during heart rate variability recording inflates low-frequency power and skews a commonly reported ratio, because breathing itself shows up in that signal. Pacing people at 15 breaths a minute removed the confusion, and the two recordings disagreed too much to be used interchangeably.
• PTRCT2023The association of increased body mass index on cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity, and cognition in adults with down syndrome.Disability and health journalAdults with Down syndrome who had obesity reached lower peak fitness than those of healthy weight or overweight (18.4 versus 22.9 ml/kg/min), but their activity levels and thinking scores were no different. The measurements were taken at one time point, so this cannot show cause.
• PTRCT2025Daily physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in adults with Down syndrome with and without congenital heart disease.Disability and health journalAdults with Down syndrome who had also had surgery for a congenital heart defect did less moderate-to-vigorous activity (10.0 vs 13.3 minutes a day) than those without, but their treadmill fitness was no different. Both groups were far below activity guidelines.
• PTRCT2023Home-based respiratory muscle training on quality of life and exercise tolerance in long-term post-COVID-19: Randomized controlled trial.Annals of physical and rehabilitation medicineEight weeks of home breathing-muscle training improved quality of life only in the group training both inspiratory and expiratory muscles, not in the group training inspiratory muscles alone, and did not improve exercise tolerance. Inspiratory strength, endurance and leg strength improved in both real-training groups.
• PTSLPSystematic Review2022Non-pharmacological Management of Non-productive Chronic Cough in Adults: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesSome non-drug treatments improved cough-related quality of life for long-standing dry cough, including speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and CPAP for sleep apnoea. But cough severity, anxiety and depression did not change, and a three-month follow-up of the physiotherapy and speech-language programme found no difference.
• PTRCT2024Effects of small community walking intervention on physical activity, well-being, and social capital among older patients with cardiovascular disease in the maintenance phase: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of physical therapy scienceOlder adults with heart disease increased their daily steps over three months, but walking in groups of three added nothing over walking alone. Only group walkers got happier. Everyone had a step tracker and monthly coaching.
• PTSystematic Review2022Quality of Care Indicators for Hospital Physical Therapy Units: A Systematic Review.Physical therapy178 clinical quality indicators exist for hospital physical therapy units, mostly measuring whether care was delivered as evidence says it should be. Effectiveness covers 82.6%, while efficiency, equity and accessibility are barely covered, and few were tested for reliability.
• PTMeta-Analysis2021Effects of Preoperative Breathing Exercise on Postoperative Outcomes for Patients With Lung Cancer Undergoing Curative Intent Lung Resection: A Meta-analysis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationBreathing exercises before lung cancer surgery shortened hospital stay by about 3.4 days and cut postoperative lung complications and pneumonia. Adding aerobic exercise helped more. Mortality, lung function and quality of life were unchanged.
• PTMeta-Analysis2025Functional Recovery of Adults Following Acute COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Physical therapyMore than three months after COVID-19, adults still walk shorter distances, have weaker grip and lower exercise capacity than healthy people their age, and walking was still below average at 11 months. Function improves with longer follow-up.
• PTMeta-Analysis2021Effectiveness of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Interstitial Lung Disease, Including Coronavirus Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationPulmonary rehabilitation improved how far people with interstitial lung disease or post-COVID lung damage could walk, by 44.55 m more than usual care, and improved their quality of life. Breathlessness did not improve significantly. Most trials had some risk of bias.
• PTMeta-Analysis2025Relationship Between Fear of Movement and Physical Activity in Patients With Cardiac, Rheumatologic, Neurologic, Pulmonary, or Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Physical therapyThe more people feared movement, the less physically active they were, but the link was weak and varied a lot between studies. It held for people with lung, neurological, heart or arthritic conditions and older adults, but not for chronic pain.
• PTRCT2023Effectiveness of exercise training on the dyspnoea of individuals with long COVID: A randomised controlled multicentre trial.Annals of physical and rehabilitation medicineNinety days of supervised high-intensity exercise training reduced breathlessness more than standard physiotherapy in people still breathless months after COVID intensive care. The trial stopped with 60 of a planned 200 participants, so how large the advantage is remains uncertain.
• PTMeta-Analysis2023Efficacy of Prehabilitation Before Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationExercise before cardiac surgery improved how far patients could walk before and shortly after surgery, and shortened hospital stay by one day. It did not improve walking at later follow-up. Most programmes also included education or psychological support, so exercise alone cannot be credited.
• PTOTSystematic Review2022Effectiveness of nonpharmacological therapeutic interventions on pain and physical function in adults with rib fractures during acute care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.The South African journal of physiotherapyCare bundles that include physiotherapy, pain control and respiratory care cut pneumonia after rib fractures: pooled risk fell 63% across two cohort studies. Hospital stay and death rates showed no difference in pooled analyses, and no study measured physical function objectively.
• PTMeta-Analysis2023Pulmonary Rehabilitation Using Minimal Equipment for People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Physical therapySupervised pulmonary rehabilitation using only elastic bands, walking and body-weight exercises improved walking distance by 85 m more than usual care and improved quality of life in people with COPD. It looked comparable to gym-based programmes.
• PTSystematic Review2022Home-based and remote functional exercise testing in cardiac conditions, during the covid-19 pandemic and beyond: a systematic review.PhysiotherapyThe 6-minute walk test is the only test tried at home or remotely in cardiac patients, and it usually tracked clinic distances well. One small study tested the timed up and go, and it is unclear whether any can guide exercise prescription.
• PTRCT2024Effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with threshold inspiratory muscle training on respiratory function in neurocritical patients with weaning failure: a randomized controlled trial.International journal of rehabilitation research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Rehabilitationsforschung. Revue internationale de recherches de readaptationIn neurocritical patients who could not be weaned from a ventilator, adding proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation to threshold inspiratory muscle training improved maximum inspiratory pressure more than the training alone. Diaphragm movement, diaphragm thickening and lung function did not differ between the groups.
• PTMeta-Analysis2022Effect of Pulmonary Rehabilitation Approaches on Dyspnea, Exercise Capacity, Fatigue, Lung Functions, and Quality of Life in Patients With COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationPulmonary rehabilitation improved walking distance (65.85 m further on the 6-minute walk test), breathlessness and fatigue more than control in people with COVID-19. It did not improve lung function or quality of life. Eight small trials, 449 people.
• PTSystematic Review2023Comparing the occurrence of chronic physical disorders in self-employed individuals with that of employees: A systematic review.Work (Reading, Mass.)Self-employed workers had higher rates of heart disease and stroke than nonmanual workers but lower rates than manual workers. Most one-off surveys found more muscle and joint complaints among the self-employed than employees.
• PTOther2026Development and validation of a physical activity questionnaire for patients following cardiac surgery.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesQuestionnaire scores from patients in the first three months after cardiac surgery lined up with how far they could walk in six minutes and with a standard activity questionnaire. The 27-item tool was never tested against a full exercise test.
• PTCohort2026Preoperative Respiratory Training Before Cardiac Surgery: Feasibility and Longitudinal Pulmonary Function Changes in Elderly Patients.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyA three-week home incentive-spirometry programme before cardiac surgery was practical in these elderly patients, with high adherence and no adverse events. Forced vital capacity rose but FEV1 did not, and with no control group the training cannot be credited.
• PTRCT2026Effect of manual diaphragmatic release on ventilatory function and functional capacity in elderly type 2 diabetic women: A randomised controlled trial.Hong Kong physiotherapy journal : official publication of the Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association Limited = Wu li chih liaoAdding manual diaphragmatic release to eight weeks of supervised cycling improved lung function and walking distance in women aged 65 to 75 with type 2 diabetes. The release group walked 22.58 metres further than cycling alone, but both groups improved.
• PTSystematic Review2025Rehabilitation for Physical Frailty in Lung Transplant Candidates: A Systematic Review.Cardiopulmonary physical therapy journalExercise programs improved walking speed, sit-to-stand time, and strength in lung transplant candidates. But 13 of 15 studies had no group that did not exercise, so we cannot separate the exercise effect from natural change. Certainty is very low.
• PTSystematic Review2023Breathing Exercises in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: A Systematic Review.DysphagiaBreathing exercises improved reflux symptoms, quality of life, and lower esophageal sphincter pressure across eleven small GERD studies, and some patients reduced or stopped PPI use. The studies were unblinded and used different techniques, so the evidence is not strong.
• PTSystematic Review2025Systematic review of the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in post-coronavirus disease.The South African journal of physiotherapyNMES was associated with improved muscle strength and walking in post-COVID-19 patients, but the evidence rests on four small studies with different measures, so no single dosing protocol is supported.
• PTSystematic Review2022Telerehabilitation improves physical function and reduces dyspnoea in people with COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 conditions: a systematic review.Journal of physiotherapyRemote exercise and breathing programs showed small gains in walking distance, sit-to-stand performance, and breathlessness versus no treatment, across six small trials. All findings are low certainty. Adverse events were similar between groups.
• PTRCT2022Pulmonary Function and Aerobic Capacity Responses to Equine Assisted Therapy in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of rehabilitation medicineAdding hippotherapy to Schroth exercises improved lung function and walking distance more than Schroth exercises alone in 45 adolescents with mild scoliosis. Both groups improved, so the extra benefit of riding is the finding, not that Schroth does not work.
• PTSystematic Review2022The Effects of Tai Chi and Baduanjin Activities on Physical Interventions With Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Hong Kong journal of occupational therapy : HKJOTTai Chi and Baduanjin lowered blood pressure and improved lung capacity in drug addicts versus routine rehabilitation. Effects were strongest in men and in programs over 12 weeks. Balance and flexibility improved; weight and grip strength did not change.
• PTMeta-Analysis2023Efficacy and Safety of Hybrid Comprehensive Telerehabilitation (HCTR) for Cardiac Rehabilitation in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Occupational therapy internationalThe primary outcomes of mortality and readmission showed no significant difference between hybrid telerehabilitation and usual care in 1578 cardiac patients. Exercise capacity improved significantly, but quality of life did not change.
• PTMeta-Analysis2024Effect of robot-assisted gait training on improving cardiopulmonary function in stroke patients: a meta-analysis.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationRobot-assisted gait training raised peak oxygen uptake in stroke patients compared with routine rehab. The 6-minute walking distance also improved, but by less than the smallest change a patient would notice.
• PTMeta-Analysis2025Comparative efficacy of robotic exoskeleton and conventional gait training in patients with spinal cord injury: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationRobotic exoskeleton gait training did not improve walking speed or distance over conventional therapy in spinal cord injury. It did improve balance and lower limb motor scores. In patients more than 6 months post-injury, conventional therapy produced faster walking speeds.
• PTSystematic Review2025Efficacy of functional electrical stimulation alone and as an adjunct to exercise for improving respiratory function and aerobic capacity in spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesFES significantly improved expiratory function (FVC, PEF, MEP) in people with spinal cord injury, but did not improve inspiratory strength. FES added to rowing improved peak oxygen uptake. Peak ventilation did not change.
• PTRCT2024An 8-week Forced-rate Aerobic Cycling Program Improves Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Persons With Chronic Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationPeak oxygen uptake rose by 1.9 mL/kg/min over 8 weeks when motor-assisted cycling was added to upper-extremity task practice, compared to task practice alone, in people with chronic stroke.
• PTSystematic Review2023Post-Operative Outcomes of Pre-Thoracic Surgery Respiratory Muscle Training vs Aerobic Exercise Training: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationPreoperative respiratory muscle training or aerobic exercise before thoracic surgery both reduced postoperative pulmonary complications compared with usual care. The two approaches performed similarly, and the combined-training result rests on only two small trials.
• PTRCT2021A randomized trial of aerobic exercise in chronic kidney disease: Evidence for blunted cardiopulmonary adaptations.Annals of physical and rehabilitation medicineTwelve weeks of supervised aerobic cycling improved peak oxygen uptake in non-dialysis CKD patients, but the gain fell below the minimal clinically important change and did not carry over to walking speed, grip strength, or daily activity.
• PTRCT2026Acute Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Two Different Locations on Blood Pressure and Cardiac Autonomic Modulation in Healthy and Hypertensive Individuals: Pilot Study of a Randomized Crossover Clinical Trial.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyA single 30-minute ear stimulation session produced small, inconsistent blood pressure changes that varied by group and site. In the hypertensive group, one site left blood pressure unchanged. No sham control was used, so the cause of the small changes is uncertain.
• PTSystematic Review2026Effectiveness of different exercise modalities in Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction. A systematic review with network meta-analysis.Brazilian journal of physical therapyFour exercise types improved peak oxygen uptake over usual care in heart failure patients. The evidence was rated very low quality, and several of these effects appeared in only one of two analysis methods.
• PTOTCohort2026Mind over lungs: the impact of coping strategies on pulmonary rehabilitation outcomes.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineIn 101 pulmonary rehab inpatients, high anxiety and depression were common but did not predict how much patients improved. Two coping styles, problem-solving and turning to religion, were linked to less improvement, but the authors call this exploratory and not causal.
• PTOTCase Report2026Case Report: Early rehabilitation initiated in the intensive care unit for myasthenic crisis.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesA woman with myasthenic crisis went from intubated to walking 70 m by day 23 and was discharged on a cane by day 78. One patient, not a pattern. Multiple treatments were given at once.
• PTOTCohort2026Factors associated with life-space mobility in older adults with chronic respiratory disease: IMIAS study.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesBeing female, having poor vision, lower physical performance, and rating one's own health poorly were the factors most strongly linked to restricted community mobility in 223 older adults with chronic lung disease. These are associations from a single time point, not causes.
• PTOther2026Measurement Properties of the Modified Incremental Step Test for Assessing Exercise Capacity in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapyThe step test did not validate as a replacement for the cardiopulmonary exercise test in people with type 2 diabetes. It correlated moderately with the 6-minute walk test, but gave inconsistent results when repeated on a second visit.