Treinamento muscular inspiratório melhora a força muscular respiratória e o pico de fluxo expiratório em idosas hipertensas

Introduction: The aging process brings changes to the cardiovascular system, increasing the prevalence of hypertension and reducing the respiratory muscle strength. Objectives: To assess the effects of a home-based inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength and distance walked in 6-minute walk test (6MWT) in hypertensive elderly women. Methods: Sixteen women with clinical diagnosis of hypertension were divided into two groups. Eight participated in the intervention group (IG) and were subjected to the home-based IMT during six weeks, and the others composed the control group (CG). Results: At the end of the IMT, we found out the increase of maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), -47±13 cmH 2 0 to -92±32 cmH 2 0 (p<0.001), the maximal expiratory pressure (MEP), 45±6 cmH 2 0 to 84±24 cmH 2 0 (p