Effect of exercise on vital capacity in different posture of young Indian subjects

Vital capacity in normal healthy individuals decreases from sitting to supine position. Exercise can strengthen the respiratory muscles and thus cause increase in VC. This project was being conducted to find the influence of exercise on vital capacity in young adult males and females in different postures. This is a cross sectional study done on 80 males and 80 female subjects, of age 18-21years. Standard informed consent was taken from all the subjects following approval from the college ethics committee. VC was noted in sitting, standing and in supine position using student's spirometer. Student t test was used to do the analysis. A statistical package SPSS version 17 will be used. P≤0.05 was considered as significant. VC in females in standing and sitting posture is highly significantly decreased in non-exercising compared to exercising subjects.VC in females in supine posture is significantly less in non-exercising subjects compared to exercising subjects. Vital capacity is high in standing and sitting position compared to supine position. So sitting positions can be adopted in patients who have respiratory insufficiency to increase the gas exchange in the lungs.