The Effects of Manual Therapy and Inspiratory Muscle Training on Respiratory Parameters in Young Adults with Postural Problems: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: It was aimed to compare the effects of manual therapy (MT) and Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT) on respiratory functions and postural problems of young adults in this study. Material and Methods: Thirty-five volunteers were randomly allocated into IMT and MT groups. All participants received twenty minutes of IMT twice a week for four weeks. Eight sessions of manual therapy were applied to MT group in addition to IMT. Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1), Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC ratio, Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF), forward head posture (FHP) and thoracic hyperkyphosis were evaluated before and after the treatments. Results: Although there were significant improvements in the FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio and PEF scores of MT group (p0.05). The comparisons of post-treatment scores of the FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio and PEF between the groups revealed the greater improvements in the MT group than IMT group (p