Swimming Exercises Increase Peak Expiratory Flow Rate in Elderly Men

Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) refers to the maximum velocity of expiration. Because PEFR can quantitatively represent the state of airway stenosis, it is often used as a long-term measurement for bronchial asthma patients with chronically obstructed breathing. Our main aim in the present study was to evaluate the long-term effect of swimming exercises on elderly people by measuring PEFR, and the secondary aim was to investigate whether the effect is gender-associated. Subjects were aged ≥ 65 years and did not have a current or past history of smoking, respiratory diseases, and/or heart diseases (8 men; mean age, 81.8 ± 4.7 years; mean height, 161.1 ± 7.5 cm; mean weight, 59.8 ± 8.0 kg; mean swimming history, 12.6 ± 5.1 years; 13 women; mean age, 77.5 ± 3.5 years; mean height, 149.9 ± 4.2 cm; mean weight, 54.5 ± 8.2 kg; mean swimming history, 12.0 ± 4.4 years). Subjects swam the breaststroke and/or crawl based on their preference for about 25 minutes. All subjects performed swimming exercises in the same swimming facility for 7 months. During this period, all subjects swam once a week and exercised a total of 28 times. PEFR of male subjects gradually increased during the observation period (P < 0.05), and significant increases were seen at 16 weeks, 24 weeks, and 28 weeks, compared to first-time measurements (P < 0.05). PEFR in elderly males increased by swimming once a week for 28 weeks, while PEFR in elderly females did not significantly change throughout the study period. This may suggest that the PEFR increasing effect of swimming on elderly people is gender-dependent.