The effects of seating position on the respiratory patterns of preschoolers with cerebral palsy.
This study investigated the respiratory patterns in upright and semi-reclining seating positions in 10 preschoolers with cerebral palsy (CP) and 10 typical children. The duration of inhalation, exhalation, total cycle, subcycles and phase lags were calculated during rest and during imitation of 3-, 7-, and 10-syllable utterances on one breath. The Respitrace was used to gather respiratory data on duration and chest wall usage. Tidal breathing demonstrated a faster rate of breathing in reclining for both groups. A difference between the groups in the use of the regions of the chest wall was also evident with the CP group having longer abdominal cycles than the control group. During speech, the groups differed in duration of respiratory cycle and region initiating movement. The duration of the 3- and 7-syllable tasks were significantly longer for the group with cerebral palsy. Indications of strategies to control the recoil forces of the chest wall for speech are discussed.
Redstone
Fran
F
Lehman College, City University of New York, New York, NY 10025, USA. franredstone@yahoo.com
D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture; D012119:Respiration; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*