Objective To examine the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation training on pulmonary function in patients post-stroke. Methods We searched Cochrane Library, PubMed, ProQuest, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wangfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database for randomized controlled trials of investigating the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation training on pulmonary function in stroke patients published before September 2018. The patients in the training group were treated with pulmonary rehabilitation, including respiratory muscle training, chest breathing, or abdominal breathing training, with or without respiratory training device. The patients in the control group received conventional stroke rehabilitation. The outcome indicators included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁), FEV₁ percentage predicted (FEV₁%pred), peak expiratory flow rate, maximal inspiratory pressure (PI_max), maximal expiratory pressure, exercise endurance, and quality of life. Two researchers independently carried out literature retrieval and data extraction, using Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale, and standard data extraction forms adapted from Cochrane Collaboration model to evaluate the studies quality. The Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager Version 5.3. Results Eleven studies met the study criteria with a total of 500 stroke patients, including 274 patients in the training group and 226 patients in the control group, respectively. The Meta-analysis showed that after pulmonary rehabilitation training, the values of FVC [mean difference (MD)=0.30 L, 95% confidence interval (CI)(0.26, 0.34) L, P<0.000 01], FEV₁ [MD=0.28 L, 95%CI (0.25, 0.32) L, P<0.000 01], and 6-minute walking test [MD=43.43 m, 95%CI (7.92, 78.95) m, P=0.02] in the training group were significantly higher than those in the control group, as well as the change of PI_max [MD=6.49 cm H₂O (1 cm H₂O=0.098 kPa), 95%CI (3.67, 9.32) cm H₂O, P<0.000 1]. The advantages of pulmonary rehabilitation training had not been found in improving FEV₁/FVC and FEV₁%pred (P>0.05). Conclusions The implementation of pulmonary rehabilitation training in the way of respiratory muscle training combined with conventional rehabilitation therapy could improve two kinds of indicators of pulmonary function referring to FVC and FEV₁, inspiratory muscle strength and 6-minute waking distance. The long-term effect of pulmonary rehabilitation training on stroke patients, the respiratory training mode of different prescriptions, the endurance of exercise and the quality of life need further study.

Citation： CHEN Yan, WU Shuang. Effects of pulmonary rehabilitation training on pulmonary function in patients post-stroke: a Meta-analysis. West China Medical Journal, 2018, 33(10): 1277-1286. doi: 10.7507/1002-0179.201805162 Copy