OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of inspiratory muscle training in children with acute leukemia. METHODS: This is a quasi-experimental study with a control group. Fourteen patients with 5 to 14 years old and a diagnosis of acute leukemia were evaluated regarding their thoracic mobility and respiratory muscle strength. They were divided in two groups (A and B). Group A received domiciliary inspiratory muscle training during 15 minutes, twice a day, for ten weeks, with a threshold device using a load of 30% of the maximal inspiratory pressure, readjusted after weekly evaluations. Group B patients were tested regarding their maximum respiratory pressures in their first evaluation and after ten weeks. Student t-test was used to evaluate maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressures between groups Pearson's correlation test examined the association of inspiratory and expiratory pressures with the different loads, using SPSS 15.0 software. RESULTS: A significant improvement of 35% was observed in the maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressures in group A at the end of the training. There was a strong positive correlation between the used load levels and maximal inspiratory (p < 0.0001) and expiratory (p = 0.0001) pressures. CONCLUSIONS: Inspiratory muscle training can be effective for improving inspiratory muscle strength in children beeing treated for acute leukemia.

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