Assessment of thoracoabdominal mechanics in distance runners with Dysfunctional Breathing: a controlled cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Introduction: A large number of distance runners train with a goal of performance improvement. An area little studied in athletes is the thoracoabdominal biomechanics (TAB), where alterations can affect high sports performance. Dysfunctional Breathing (DB) is a disorder that occurs due to an inadequate TAB pattern, but little is known about how it manifests itself in runners. Objective: to evaluate the thoracoabdominal mechanics of distance runners with DB. Secondary objectives will be to evaluate the agreement between field instruments (Nijmegen Questionnaire and Hi-lo Breathing Assessment) and optoelectronic plethysmography (OEP). Finally, it will be assessed whether TAB changes are associated with worse performance in this population. Methods: high-performance distance runners (defined by the 25th percentile of distance runners) aged 18 to 65 will be screened when picking up kits for the main running events in the state of São Paulo, where the DB assessment will take place using the field evaluations from In a second moment, the included athletes will be invited for objective evaluation in the POE. For comparison, a control group will be formed by athletes paired in terms of anthropometric data and running performance. 31 athletes will be included in each group. Data normality will be assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test and comparison between groups will be performed using Student's t test or Mann-Whitney test.