Should Respiratory Muscle Training Be Part of the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease? A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials
Clinical Rehabilitation
Rodríguez, M., Crespo, I., et al. (2020).
Clinical Rehabilitation, 34(4), 429-437.
This systematic review investigates the effects of respiratory muscle training on individuals with Parkinson's disease.
No funding received
From database inception to November 15, 2019
Studies with between-group designs
5
<div>Findings demonstrated emerging evidence for respiratory strength training for improving respiratory muscle strength, swallow function, and voice in individuals with Parkinson's disease. Specific findings included:</div>
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<li>Limited evidence demonstrated statistically positive effects of inspiratory and expiratory muscle training on maximal inspiratory pressure and maximal expiratory pressure, respectively.</li>
<li>Inspiratory training was associated with a reduction of 22% in the perception of dyspnea, an increase of 46% in muscle endurance, and improvements in maximum phonation time and peak sound pressure.</li>
<li>Expiratory muscle strength training was associated with improvements in mean and peak sound pressure levels and swallowing function, as measured by the penetration/aspiration score.</li>
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<div>However, due to reduced methodological rigor and overall paucity of research, "the current evidence is too limited to allow any recommendations for clinical practice" (p. 436).</div>
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