The influence of regular physical activity on lung function in paraplegic people

Abstract

Study design: Cross-sectional study. Objectives: The main goal of this study was to examine the influence of regular physical activity (PA) on lung volumes and flows. Setting: The study was conducted in the Vall d'Hebrón Hospital, Barcelona (Spain), and La Fe Hospital, Valencia (Spain). Methods: Spirometric tests were performed to 67 paraplegics, and differences were established between the active group (AG) (n=37) that performed >60 min per week of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and 30 non-AG (NAG). Further, we established the relationship between the spirometric and PA variables and between being active and reaching the lower limit of normal (LLN) of the spirometric variables. Results: AG had greater values than the NAG: FVC (P<0.01), FEV 1 (P<0.01) and PEF (P<0.01). Moderate correlations between the MVPA and FVC (r=0.41, P<0.01) and the MVPA and FEV 1 (r=0.39, P<0.01) were obtained. The relationship between being physically active and reaching the LLN was statistically significant for FEV 1 (χ 2 =6.184, P<0.05) but not for FVC (P>0.05). Conclusions: The performance of MVPA for a minimum of 60 min per week can have a beneficial effect, both on lung volumes and on expiratory flow, and led to an achievement of the LLN in FEV 1.