Investigation of the Effects of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Exercise Capacity, Muscle Oxygenation and Physical Activity Level in Children With Primary Immunodeficiency

Among the symptoms and complications of PID, pulmonary complications are very common and significantly increase the morbidity and mortality of the disease. Recurrent respiratory infections are often the first warning sign in some types of PID and is a cause of mortality in adults with PID. Presence of 2 or more pneumonias per year is one of the 10 warning signs of PID. Respiratory system diseases are mainly caused by acute and chronic infections. Non-infectious respiratory system diseases and complications are asthma, bronchiectasis, bronchiolitis obliterans, interstitial lung disease, granulomatous lung disease and malignancies. These diseases significantly affect the quality of life of PID patients, limiting their ability to work and their physical and social activities. Health-related quality of life in PID patients is also significantly affected by delays in the diagnosis and treatment of infections. As survival from infections increases, non-infectious pulmonary complications are more common in PID patients. Permanent lung damage is seen at a rate of 20-40%, especially in PID patients with antibody deficiency. The main causes of exercise intolerance in patients with lung disease include isolated or associated factors such as increased symptoms (fatigue and shortness of breath in the lower extremities), development of dynamic hyperinflation, peripheral muscle dysfunction, abnormalities in oxygen transport and progressive loss of physical condition, physical inactivity. There are no studies evaluating exercise capacity, respiratory and peripheral muscle strength, inspiratory muscle endurance, and muscle oxygenation in children with PID. In studies conducted with post-infectious bronchiolitis obliterans patients, it has been shown that exercise capacity is reduced in these patients. There are no studies in the literature on pulmonary rehabilitation practices and efficacy in PID patients.

The primary aim of this study: To investigate the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation on exercise capacity and muscle oxygenation in children with primary immunodeficiency.

The secondary aim of this study: To investigate the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation on physical activity level, respiratory functions, peripheral and respiratory muscle strength, inspiratory muscle endurance, shortness of breath, fatigue and quality of life in children with primary immunodeficiency.

Primary outcome measurement will be oxygen consumption (cardiopulmonary exercise test).

Secondary outcome will be muscle oxygenation (Moxy device), physical activity level (multi sensor activity device), pulmonary function (spirometer), functional exercise capacity (six-minute walk test), respiratory (mouth pressure device) and peripheral muscle (hand-held dynamometer) strength, inspiratory muscle endurance (incremental threshold loading test), dyspnea (Modified Borg Scale (MBS)), fatigue (Modified Borg Scale) and quality of life (The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL)).