Identification of equipment and procedures used by Brazilian physical therapists for inspiratory muscle endurance tests

ABSTRACT The assessment of inspiratory muscles through the inspiratory muscle endurance test (IME), defined as the ability to support this task over time, currently presents wide range of instruments and procedures for its measurement. This study aimed to identify the different equipment, procedures and assessments of IME tests among Brazilian physical therapists. It is a cross-sectional study carried out through a questionnaire sent individually by electronic mail to each participant. One hundred and thirteen physical therapists from different regions of the country, many practicing in the clinic and in the teaching field (52.1%), said they measured IME a few times (48.7%). The aneroid manovacuometer was used by 42.5% of the professionals. The nose clip and the hard plastic or paper tubular incentive spirometer were the most used accessories during the test, corresponding to 51.8% and 33%, respectively. The maximum voluntary ventilation test was used to assess the inspiratory endurance, reported by 23% of the respondents. The constant load test for endurance assessment was adopted by 51.2% of the physical therapists, and 54.9% associated verbal commands with the demonstration for the test application. The interpretation of the measured values was made with reference values by 25.7% of respondents. We identified that Brazilian physical therapists interviewed did not show the same conduct for IME tests. However, the equipment, procedures and assessment form are used based on the guidelines on the subject and according to the availability of resources of the service.摘要：通过吸气肌耐力测试（inspiratory muscle endurance test, IME）评估吸气肌——该测试被定义为随时间维持吸气任务的能力——目前已有多种测量工具与操作流程可供选用。本研究旨在调研巴西物理治疗师所使用的各类吸气肌耐力测试设备、操作流程与评估方案。本研究为横断面研究，通过电子邮件向每位参与者单独发放问卷开展调研。来自巴西不同地区的113名物理治疗师参与了本次调研，其中52.1%的从业者同时开展临床与教学工作，48.7%的受访者表示偶尔开展吸气肌耐力测试。42.5%的专业人员使用无液式压力肺活量计（aneroid manovacuometer）。测试中最常用的配套装置为鼻夹与硬质塑料或纸质管状激励式肺活量计，占比分别为51.8%与33%。23%的受访者采用最大自主通气量测试评估吸气肌耐力。51.2%的物理治疗师采用恒定负荷试验开展耐力评估，54.9%的从业者会在测试实施时结合口头指令与动作示范。仅25.7%的受访者依据参考值对测量结果进行解读。调研结果显示，受访的巴西物理治疗师在吸气肌耐力测试的实施上并未形成统一规范，但相关设备、操作流程与评估方案的选用均基于该领域的专业指南，并结合所在机构的资源可及性情况。