DOI: https://doi.org/10.22263/2312-4156.2026.1.32
H.Yu. Krumkachova
Detecting and predicting the respiratory muscle dysfunction in patients with occupational respiratory diseases
Belarusian State Medical University, Minsk, Republic of Belarus
Vestnik VGMU. 2026;25(1):32-40.
Abstract.
Objectives. To assess the association between anthropometric and functional parameters and respiratory muscle strength in patients with occupational respiratory diseases (ORD), identify predictors of respiratory muscle dysfunction (RMD) and develop predictive models for its early detection.
Material and methods. The study included 102 patients with chronic occupational bronchitis (COB; n=34), occupational COPD (OCOPD; n=38), pneumoconiosis (Pn; n=30) and 23 healthy volunteers. Anthropometry, spirometry, the 6-minute walk test (6-MWT) and measurements of respiratory and peripheral muscle strength were performed. Bayesian analysis with Wald’s sequential test and logistic regression were used to predict the risk of RMD.
Results. Significant reduction in both respiratory and peripheral muscle strength was observed in all ORD groups (p<0.05). Abdominal obesity was highly prevalent in COB and OCOPD, yet body mass index showed no association with respiratory muscle strength. In COB, respiratory muscle strength correlated with oxygen desaturation during the 6-MWT; in OCOPD – with ventilatory volumes; in Pn – with lung reserve volumes. Two predictive models were developed: a scoring scale (based on 9 clinical and functional parameters) and a logistic regression model (based on two dynamometry parameters), both demonstrating high accuracy in identifying patients at high risk of RMD.
Conclusions. Handgrip dynamometry can be used as a screening tool for RMD. The proposed predictive models enable early identification of patients at high risk of developing respiratory muscle dysfunction.
Keywords: respiratory muscles, occupational respiratory diseases, handgrip dynamometry, muscle endurance, prediction, body mass index.
Acknowledgements. The author expresses sincere gratitude to the supervisor Alexeychik S.E. for methodological and scientific support; to Rybina T.M. – for assistance in conducting studies of the respiratory muscle strength; to Dudareva N.I. – the head of the Department of Allergology and Occupational Pathology of the 10th City Clinical Hospital in Minsk (at the time when the research was being carried out) – for organizational support and the opportunity to recruit patients. The author also thanks the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that helped to improve the quality of the manuscript.
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Submitted 22.01.2026
Accepted 16.02.2026
Information about authors:
Hanna Yu. Krumkachova – senior lecturer of the Chair of Internal Diseases, Gastroenterology and Nutritional Science with the course of the Faculty for Advanced Training & Retraining, Belarusian State Medical University, https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1950-3128, e-mail: Этот адрес электронной почты защищён от спам-ботов. У вас должен быть включен JavaScript для просмотра..
