Impact of expiratory strength training in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

ABSTRACT: We evaluated the feasibility and impact of expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) on respiratory and bulbar function in persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).Twenty-five ALS patients participated in this delayed intervention open-label clinical trial. Following a lead-in period, patients completed a 5-week EMST protocol. Outcome measures included: maximum expiratory pressure (MEP); physiologic measures of swallow and cough; and penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) scores.Of participants who entered the active phase of the study (n = 15), EMST was well tolerated and led to significant increases in MEPs and maximum hyoid displacement during swallowing post-EMST (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed for PAS scores or cough spirometry measures.EMST was feasible and well tolerated in this small cohort of ALS patients and led to improvements in expiratory force-generating pressures and swallow kinematics. Further investigation is warranted to confirm these preliminary findings. Muscle Nerve 54: 48-53, 2016.

SUBMITTER: Plowman EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4879103 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature