Abstract
[Purpose] We aimed to make clear the traits of the respiratory function of children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities by examining their relation to experience of pneumonia within two years. [Subjects] The subjects were 15 children suffering severe motor and intellectual disabilities admitted to the Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Science Hospital for the purpose of rehabilitation. All had normal blood oxygen saturation level during sleep. [Methods] The children's parents were asked whether or not their child had suffered pneumonia within the last two years. Each subject's tidal volume per body weight and respiratory rate were measured during sleep at rest, and examined in relation to the history of pneumonia. [Results] While subjects who had suffered pneumonia within the last two years showed no difference in terms of tidal volumes per body weight during sleep, their respiratory rates during sleep were significantly higher than those of the subjects with no experience of pneumonia within the last two years. [Conclusion] This result clearly shows that children suffering severe motor and intellectual disabilities who have experienced pneumonia within the last two years tended to have higher respiratory rates during sleep, which suggests that their ineffective respiratory pattern continues during sleep at rest.
