Exoskeleton-assisted walking improves pulmonary function and walking parameters among individuals with spinal cord injury: a randomized controlled pilot study

Table 2 Outcomes of pulmonary function test (PFT) in accordance with the training methods

Characteristic, mean ± SD	EAW group (n = 9)			Conventional group (n = 9)			p-values between two groups
Characteristic, mean ± SD	Pre	Post	p-value in group	Pre	Post	p-value in group	Pre	Post
FVC, L	3.1 ± 1.1	3.8 ± 1.1	0.052	3.0 ± 0.9	2.8 ± 0.8	0.285	0.800	0.041
FVC% _pred	76.9 ± 16.6	94.1 ± 24.5	0.040	69.5 ± 16.3	65.4 ± 17.6	0.321	0.356	0.012
FEV₁, L	2.7 ± 0.9	3.5 ± 1.0	0.010	2.5 ± 0.6	2.4 ± 0.6	0.601	0.576	0.013
FEF₇₅, L/s	4.9 ± 1.9	6.6 ± 1.8	0.011	4.9 ± 2.0	5.9 ± 1.8	0.099	0.967	0.434
FEF₅₀, L/s	3.6 ± 1.5	4.3 ± 1.6	0.092	3.2 ± 1.1	3.5 (0.9)^†	0.944	0.606	0.354
FEF₂₅, L/s	1.7 ± 0.9	1.9 ± 1.1	0.581	1.7 ± 0.7	1.5 ± 1.0	0.470	0.891	0.417
PEF, L/s	5.3 ± 1.6	7.1 ± 2.0	0.010	5.1 ± 2.2	6.0 ± 2.2	0.204	0.834	0.289
MVV, L	97.8 ± 40.3	117.1 ± 30.3	0.017	96.7 ± 34.0	104.0 ± 29.5	0.204	0.952	0.364

EAW exoskeleton-assisted walking, FVC forced vital capacity, FEV₁ forced expiratory volume in 1 s, FEF forced expiratory flow, PEF peak expiratory flow, MVV maximal voluntary ventilation, SD standard deviation, IQR interquartile range
^†Report the median (IQR)

ISSN: 1743-0003