Acute effects of different inspiratory efforts on ventilatory pattern and chest wall compartmental distribution in elderly women

• During quiet breathing elderly women’s ventilatory kinematics differs from young women.
• Despite the differences in kinematics, elderly and young women adopt similar ventilatory behavior during moderate inspiratory efforts (deep and slow) probably as a beneficial adaptative strategy. This study presents novel quantitative data of this behavior.
• This study was the first to describe the elderly respiratory behavior during maximal efforts.
• During maximal inspiratory efforts, abdominal kinematics is similar between groups. The rib cage contribution to the total chest wall volume becomes more predominant reflecting a predictor pattern of muscle fatigue.

It is not completely described how aging affect ventilatory kinematics and what are the mechanisms adopted by the elderly population to overcome these structural modifications. Given this, the aim was to evaluate the acute effects of different inspiratory efforts on ventilatory pattern and chest wall compartmental distribution in elderly women. Variables assessed included: tidal volume (Vt), total chest wall volume (Vcw), pulmonary rib cage (Vrcp%), abdominal rib cage (Vrca%) and abdominal compartment (Vab%) relative contributions to tidal volume. These variables were assessed during quiet breathing, maximal inspiratory pressure maneuver (MIP), and moderate inspiratory resistance (MIR; i.e., 40% of MIP). 22 young women (age: 23.9 ± 2.5 years) and 22 elderly women (age: 68.2 ± 5.0 years) participated to this study. It was possible to show that during quiet breathing, Vab% was predominant in elderly (p < 0.001), in young, however, Vab% was similar to Vrcp% (p = 0.095). During MIR, Vrcp% was predominant in young (p < 0.001) and comparable to Vab% in elderly (p = 0.249). When MIP was imposed, both groups presented a predominance of Vrcp%. In conclusion, there are differences in abdominal kinematics between young and elderly women during different inspiratory efforts. In elderly, during moderate inspiratory resistance, the pattern is beneficial, deep, and slow. Although, during maximal inspiratory resistance, the ventilatory pattern seems to predict imminent muscle fatigue.