Article

OBJECTIVE: To assess the longitudinal association between respiratory muscle
strength and cough capacity in persons with recent spinal cord injury.
DESIGN: Longitudinal analyses. SUBJECTS: Forty persons with recent spinal cord injury and
impaired pulmonary function. METHODS: Measurements were performed 4 weeks after
the start of rehabilitation, 9 and 17 weeks after the first measurement, and one
year after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. Peak cough flow was measured
with a spirometer. Maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressures (MIP and MEP),
expressed in cmH2O, were measured at the mouth. RESULTS:
Both MIP and MEP were
significantly positively associated with peak cough flow. After correction for
confounders and time 10 cmH2O higher MIP was associated with a 0.32 l/s higher
peak cough flow, and a 10 cmH2O higher MEP was associated with a 0.15 l/s higher
peak cough flow. The association between MIP and peak cough flow was mainly based
on within-subject variance. The association between MIP and peak cough flow was
stronger than between MEP and peak cough flow.
CONCLUSION: Improvement in
respiratory muscle strength is associated with improvement in cough capacity in
persons with recent spinal cord injury who have impaired pulmonary function.

Langue : ANGLAIS