Original Article
Effects of an Exercise Program in Children with Cystic Fibrosis: Are There Differences between Females and Males?

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Objective

To investigate the adaptive responses of an in-patient exercise program in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) and evaluate the effects of sex.

Study design

In total, 158 female and 186 male subjects with CF (age, 12 to 43 years) were studied during a 6-week rehabilitation course. A maximal incremental cycling test was used to determine exercise capacity and responses after 6 weeks of exercise training. Measures included lung function, peak oxygen uptake, peak workload, and peak heart rate.

Results

Lung function values were lower in males (P < .05). Females had a lower aerobic capacity (P < .05) at the beginning and at the end of the exercise training program. Similar training effects (P > .05) were seen between sexes in peak oxygen uptake (mL/min, mL/kg/min) and peak heart rate (beats/min) but not in peak workload (Watts, W/kg).

Conclusions

The exercise program improved the fitness level similarly in females and males with CF. Basic physiological sex differences were still seen at the beginning and end of the training, despite the better lung function in females. Moreover, the finding suggested that fitness level and not lung function determined the response to training in CF, with those who were less fit at baseline having the largest response to training.

Section snippets

Methods

Data were collected from 344 children, adolescents, and adults with CF (158 female; 186 male; ages from 7 to 43 years) (Table I). All subjects were attending a specialized inpatient rehabilitation clinic for CF owned by the German social security organizations in Nebel. The duration of the rehabilitation course was 6 weeks. The criteria for inclusion were the following: clinically stable, no medical contraindications for exercise testing, and participating in an exercise training program. Home

Results

All participants completed the training program. Statistically significant differences were found between sexes for anthropometric data. Males were older (P < .01), taller (P < .001), and weighed more (P < .001, Table I). Weight (P < .001) and BMI (P < .001) increased after training in both male and females, and the magnitude of improvement was comparable between sexes (P > .05).

At admission and at discharge, lung function showed differences between the groups. FEV1 and VC were higher (P < .01)

Discussion

The results of this 6-week inpatient rehabilitation and exercise training study demonstrated a beneficial effect on exercise capacity and lung function in both females and males with CF. These findings are in accordance which other studies, which have also shown that an exercise training program may lead to an improvement of exercise capacity and lung function in CF.1, 5

The maximum exercise capacity, expressed as VO2peak and Wpeak in absolute and relative terms, was significantly lower in

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    Supported by the Deutsche Rentenversicherung Nord. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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