ORIGINAL RESEARCH BREATHING PATTERN DISORDERS AND FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT Helen Bradley, PT, MSc1 Dr. Joseph Esformes, PhD, CSCS2  ABSTRACT Study Design: Experimental design Background: Normal breathing mechanics play a key role in posture and spinal stabilization. Breathing Pattern Disorders (BPD) have been shown to contribute to pain and motor control deficits, which can result in dysfunctional movement patterns. The Functional Movement ScreenTM (FMSTM) has been shown to accurately predict injury in individuals who demonstrate poor movement patterns. The role BPD play on functional movement is not well established. Furthermore, there is currently no single test to clinically diagnose BPD. A variety of methods are used, but correlations between them are poor. Purpose: To examine the relationship between BPD and functional movement and identify correlations between different measures of BPD. Methods: Breathingwasassessedin34healthyindividualsusingamulti-dimensionalapproachthatincluded biomechanical, biochemical, breathing related symptoms, and breathing functionality measures. Movement was assessed using the FMSTM. Analysis, involving independent t-tests and Pearson correlation were per- formed to identify associations between measures. Results: Individuals who exhibited biochemical and biomechanical signs of BPD were significantly more likely to score poorly on the FMSTM. These studied measures of BPD correlated highly with each other. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the importance of diaphragmatic breathing on functional move- ment. Inefficient breathing could result in muscular imbalance, motor control alterations, and physiologi- cal adaptations that are capable of modifying movement. These findings provide evidence for improved breathing evaluations by clinicians. Level of evidence: 2B Key words: Capnography, diaphragm, FMSTM , motor control
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:53:33 +0000