Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Exercise Programs in Males Versus Females with Cystic Fibrosis

An interesting study was published in The Journal of Pediatrics comparing the fitness levels of males and females with cystic fibrosis. A 6 week inpatient rehabilitation program was conducted with 158 females and 186 males subjects (ages 12-43 years) with cystic fibrosis. Lung function, peak oxygen uptake, peak workload, and peak heart rate were measured. The results indicated the following:
  • lower lung function in males
  • lower aerobic capacity in females
  • same training effects were seen in males and females for peak oxygen uptake and peak heart rate but not in peak work load
  • individuals who were less fit at the start of the program showed the most improvement

The researchers concluded that fitness level and not lung function determined the improvements following the 6 week rehabilitation program.

Reference: Wolfgang Gruber, MSc, PhDa, David M. Orenstein, MDb, Klaus Michael Braumann, MDc, Karl Paul, MDd, Gerd Hüls, MDe Effects of an Exercise Program in Children with Cystic Fibrosis: Are There Differences between Females and Males? The Journal of Pediatrics Abstract September 2010 doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2010.07.033

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is useful information for professionals working with persons w/ CF. The design looks adequate for drawing the conclusions. However, how homogeneous the groups of subjects were is a possible confound. Sicker (less fit) subjects mixed with healthier children - well - not a gender based difference, eh?

Barbara

Your Therapy Source Inc said...

Well, the subjects were not all children to add to your questions. In addition, my hypothesis is that in general if a group of people undertake 6 weeks of an exercise regimen most likely the ones who are the least fit to start will show the most improvements. For example, if I am an avid runner, it may take months to shave off seconds on my time. If I am a new runner, I can shave minutes off in months of training.
I do find it interesting that there was no difference between males and females though.

Anonymous said...

You got me - I missed the top age of 43 in my morning rush to review. My bad. We agree on the not-amazing-4th-conclusion.

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