Fuerza muscular respiratoria y movilidad torácica en niños sanos. Relación con medidas antropométricas

Resumo

Introduction The measurement of respiratory muscle strength and thoracic mobility are important in clinical assessment of the respiratory system in the paediatric population, however, their values can change according to the characteristics of the population of each country. The objective of the study was to describe respiratory muscle strength and thoracic mobility in healthy children from Cali, Colombia, and analyse their correlation with anthropometric measurements. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study. We included healthy children between 8 and 11 years old, from a school in Cali, Colombia, whose respiratory muscle strength was measured with Maximum Inspiratory Pressure (MIP) and Maximum Expiratory Pressure (MEP) and thoracic mobility with axillary and xiphoid cirtometry. Anthropometric measurements were taken, such as weight, height and BMI-for-age. Results 89 children were admitted, most were female (50.6%) and with normal BMI-for-age (62.9%). Median MIP -60.0 cmH2O (IQR 44.0) and MEP 49.0 cmH2O (IQR 19.0). Median axillary cirtometry 4.5 cm (IQR 1.6) and xiphoid cirtometry 4.7 cm (IQR 1.7). MIP correlated with BMI-for-age (rs = 0.23 p = 0.030), axillary cirtometry with weight (rs = 0.35 p = 0.001) and BMI-for-age (rs = 0.31 p = 0.003), xiphoid cirtometry with weight (rs = 0.24 p = 0.027) and height (rs = 0.22 p = 0.037). There was no correlation between MIP-MEP and cirtometry. Discussion Respiratory muscle strength and thoracic mobility depend on changes in the growth of the infant and differential characteristics between boys and girls during puberty.