Respiratory Muscle Training and Maintenance Program Impact on Cardiopulmonary Function in Parkinson’s Disease: Pilot Study

Introduction: Parkinson’s disease (PD) leads to motor symptoms that can contribute to difficulties with traditional exercise leading to a decline in cardiopulmonary function. Research has shown that intensive inspiratory muscle training (IMT) can have a positive impact on respiratory function yet have limited long-term benefits when the training was discontinued. The purpose of this study was to determine an appropriate maintenance program to sustain improvements made after an intensive IMT. Methods: Nine people with PD completed the intensive and maintenance IMT programs. The dependent variables of maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), maximum expiratory pressure, six-minute walk test distance, and fatigue were assessed using a one-way repeated ANOVA. Results: The results showed that the intensive IMT program significantly improved MIP F(2,16) = 7.88, p = 0.004. Post hoc analysis showed a significant change between initial testing and completion of the intensive program (p = .048) and completion of the maintenance program (p = .015). There was not a significant difference between the intensive and maintenance programs (p = .59) indicating that the improvements were maintained. Conclusion: The results of this intervention protocol support the benefits of an IMT protocol and that a maintenance program can be beneficial in keeping the gains achieved. The study is registered at www.clinicaltrails.gov NCT05287243.