The comparison of physical fitness and anaerobic capacity in asthmatic and non-asthmatic children.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Asthma, is the most common chronic inflammatory disease in childhood period. It can affect the daily life to an advanced level and may become vital. The purpose of this study is to compare physical fitness and anaerobic capacity in asthmatic children (AC) and non-asthmatic children (NC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 47 children participated in the study; 25 individuals with mild to moderate asthma and 22 healthy children were assessed. The assessed variables consist pulmonary function and peripheral muscle strength (PMS). Additionally, physical fitness was evaluated by using fitnessgram test battery, which includes body composition, modified shuttle walk test (MSWT), curl-up test, push-up test, and sit and reach test variables. Anaerobic capacity was measured with wingate anaerobic capacity test (WAnT) and counter-movement jump (CMJ) using a tri-axial accelerometer. RESULTS: FEV1/FVC ratio (p = 0.01), MSWT (p = 0.001), push-up test (p = 0.01), and WAnT peak power (p = 0.05) were measured significantly to be found reduced in AC compared with that of NC. Between the two groups, PMS, curl-up test, sit and reach test, and CMJ were not significantly different (p = 0.05). High to moderate positive correlation was found among WAnT, CMJ parameters and FEV1, fat-free body mass (FFM), dominant handgrip, and quadriceps strengths (p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Physical fitness level and anaerobic capacity were lower in AC compared with that of NC. Physical fitness parameters and anaerobic exercise capacity should be evaluated on the physiotherapy and rehabilitation program in AC.

Validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile in outpatients with respiratory disease

Background/aim: Dyspnea is the subjective feeling of breathing discomfort, which is a significant problem for patients with heart and respiratory disease and also an important determinant of exercise tolerance, quality of life, and mortality in various diseases. Most of the scales are not enough to investigate the multidimensional effects of dyspnea; therefore, the Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile (MDP) was developed and validated in many languages. This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the MDP into Turkish and investigate the psychometric properties of this adapted version in outpatients with respiratory disease. Materials and methods: The MDP was translated and culturally adapted into Turkish following published guidelines. A total of 170 outpatients with respiratory disease were included to assess psychometric properties. The factorial structure was investigated using a principal component analysis. Two situations were used in this study evaluating dyspnea in activity-related and resting conditions. We formulated 17 hypotheses for each MDP domain (in total 68) to assess construct validity, and correlations were investigated between the MDP and measures of body mass index, pulmonary function test, other dyspnea assessments, anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life. To investigate the test-retest reliability, the MDP was administered again after 1-h and 1 week Results: Internal consistency of the MDP was excellent (Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.89 to 0.93). The exploratory factor analysis revealed 2 components explaining a 70% and 76% variance. Overall, 64 of the 68 predetermined hypotheses (94%) were confirmed to test construct validity. The MDP showed excellent test-retest reliability for a 1-hperiod (intraclass correlation coefficient values ranged from 0.98 to 0.99). However, test-retest reliability decreased moderate-to-high after 1 week (0.53­0.80). Conclusion: The MDP was successfully translated and culturally adapted into Turkish and this version showed good psychometric properties including the factorial structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity to assess multidimensional aspects of dyspnea.