Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of breathing exercise in a seated position in a wheelchair on postural stereotype and assessment of further objective indicators. The sample consisted of 15 participants with spinal cord injury (SCI), 8 men and 7 women.
The intervention program lasted for six months, five times a week, in the range of 20 - 30 minutes. The study included: 1) the Chest X-Ray in a seated position during inhalation and exhalation; 2) chest excursion; 3) determination of forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume during the first second (FEV1); 4) the wheelchair treadmill test to identify oxygen uptake (VO2) and maximum minute ventilation (Vmax).
The pretest X-ray showed that the difference in the movement of the lower ribs during inhalation and exhalation was 2-35 mm. The measurement of chest circumference showed a limitation of chest expansion related to normal values connected with age and sex.
Tetraplegics FVC decreased by 30-50 % compared with the values of the healthy population and paraplegics FVC reduced by about 80 %. The wheelchair treadmill test showed that VO2 for all persons with SCI were above average (0.89) compared to the values of the population without disabilities.
V max for all persons with spinal cord injury was also above average (38.22). After six months, the X-ray examination showed that the difference in the movement of the lower ribs during inhalation and exhalation has increased by 49 % (6 to 45 mm).
The circumference of chest during inspiration increased by 3.5 % and during exhalation decreased by 1.27 %. FEV1 increased by 5.68 % and FVC increased by 7.61%.
VO2 decreased, with an average value of 0.67. Vmax remained unchanged (graph 2).
In this study, by using the X-ray and other tests, we have noted the objective influence of breathing exercises which affect posture on the main respiratory muscles in persons with SCI.