Effect of portable non-invasive ventilation & environmental conditions on everyday activities

The current study examined the effect of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) within environments of differing temperature and humidity on several physiological and perceptual responses while performing six activities of daily living (i.e. putting on shirt/shoes/trousers, vacuuming, hanging towels, and walking on a treadmill). Sixteen healthy participants completed the activities of varying difficulty within four experimental conditions: with and without NIV; and in temperate (22 °C, 40% relative humidity) and hot-humid environments (32 °C, 70% relative humidity). Comparisons of physiological responses between conditions were examined via repeated measures ANOVAs. Overall, NIV resulted in similar physiological and perceptual responses within all environmental conditions for healthy participants. Further, NIV use increased heart rate during the most strenuous task (29.5 ± 12.7 vs. 22.8 ± 12.0 bpm, p = 0.008) indicating NIV use may stress cardiovascular functioning during moderate-high intensity activities. Tropical conditions did not alter physiological or perceptual responses during everyday tasks with NIV use by healthy adults. Future investigations examining the independent and combined impacts of task intensity, extreme environments and NIV use will clarify the benefits of NIV for healthy and clinical populations.