Introduction: Evaluation of effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has not yet been presented in medical literature. The objective of the study is to analyze the influence of inspiratory muscle training on dyspnea (oxygen cost diagram [OCD], baseline dyspnea index [BDI]), quality of life (SF-36), results of 6 MWT (distance, dyspnea in Borg’s scale), maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), and lung function tests (IC, TLC, VC, FEV₁, DLCO_SB, DLCO/VA) in patients with IPF.
Material and methods: Investigations were conducted before, after 6 and 12 weeks of pulmonary rehabilitation performed in 2 groups of patients: study group (GB) - 16 patients - with inspiratory muscle training added to general body conditioning and in control group (GK) - 14 patients - who performed only general body conditioning.
Results: After 12 weeks of rehabilitation in SG we noticed the significant decrease of dyspnoea before (p = 0.028) and after (p = 0.012) 6 MWT, increase of distance in 6 MWT (p = 0.001), increase of MIP (p = 0.006), decrease of dyspnoea in BDI (p = 0.001) and improvement of quality of life (SF-36/PCS; p = 0.030) in comparison to baseline values. In the GK we observed increase of distance in 6MWT (p = 0.001) and improvement in quality of life (SF-36/PCS; p = 0.016). No improvement in sensation of dyspnea during 6MWT, BDI and MIP was noticed in the GK.
Conclusion: Adding inspiratory muscle training increases effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation in IPF patients.