근위축성 측색 경화증 (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: ALS) 환자에게 있어 호흡기능장애는 죽음에 이르게 하는 주요 원인 중 하나이다. 본 연구는 근위축성 측색 경화증이 있으며 호흡기능이 약화되어 있는 51세의 여성 환자를 대상으로 호흡운동 치료를 시행한 후 폐기능(pulmonary function)이 증진되었는지를 알아보고자 실시하였다. 연구 대상자는 6주간의 호흡운동 치료 프로그램에 참여하였다. 호흡운동 치료 프로그램은 횡경

The purpose of this study was to identify the differences in pulmonary functioning after respiratory exercise with IPPB (Intermittent Positive Pressure Breather) in patients with progressive muscular dystrophy (PMD). The subjects were 46 patients with PMD who were admitted to the Rehabilitation Medicine Department of Youngdong Severance Hospital. The subjects were assigned into one of 2 groups. The control group received comprehensive treatments such as ROM exercise, deep breathing exercise, moist hot packs, and ultrasound twice a day while admitted at the Rehabilitation Medicine Department. Unlike the control group, the subjects at the experimental group received respiratory exercise treatment with IPPB. The subjects were admitted for 10~19 days, and the average length of hospital stay was 12.2 days. Pulmonary functioning was evaluated at admission and discharge by SENSOR MEDICS. The data were analyzed by a paired t-test and a independent t-test. The results were as follows: 1) The change of each parameter of pulmonary function tests were significantly improved in all groups after respiratory exercise treatment during admission (p<0.05). 2) By comparing the change of each parameter of pulmonary function tests between the experimental group and control group, the parameters of vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity, forced vital capacity predicted (FVCP) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) were significantly improved in the experimental group which had received the pulmonary exercise treatment with IPPB (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study suggests that the pulmonary exercise treatments with IPPB facilitated improvement in the pulmonary functioning for the PMD patients during their hospital stay.