People with high level of spinal cord injury feel a lot of discomfort in breathing ability. However, the rehabilitation exercise program to solve this problem is not activated. Also, the respiratory rehabilitation exercise program developed specifically for those is very scarce. Existing breathing exercises are uncomfortable because the method is tedious and cannot see the degree of improvement. Therefore, it is important to develop a variety of exercise programs that can effectively enhance the respiratory muscle.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of respiratory rehabilitation exercise to improve pulmonary function.

The subject were 7 people with high level of spinal cord injury (C3-6, ASIA A, B). The exercise program developed was consist of 8 weeks of 1-h exercise session 2 days a week. Each session included warm up (stretching), respiratory rehabilitation exercise, and cool down (flexibility and relaxation). The pulmonary functions were measured with digital spirometry meter (Pony FX, Cosmed, Italy). The pulmonary function tests were conducted before and after the 16 sessions of respiratory rehabilitation exercise program.

As a result of respiratory rehabilitation exercise during 8-week for subjects, pulmonary function showed significant changes in inspiratory capacity, vital capacity and inspiratory reserve volume.

We confirmed the positive effect of the respiratory rehabilitation exercise program developed for people with high level of spinal cord injury. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for the development of specialized programs for each degree of severity.