Efeitos da técnica expansiva e incentivador respiratório na for？a da musculatura respiratória em idosos institucionalizados

introduction: aging is a physiological process that brings with it several changes in the body system, including the decrease in respiratory muscle strength. objective: to evaluate mip (maximal inspiration pressure), mep (maximal expiratory pressure) and expiratory flow peak of institutionalized elderly before and after application of manual techniques and expansive flow-oriented incentive spirometry (respiron？), and compare the results obtained. materials and methods: a longitudinal study, case control study in an institution in curitiba (pr), with 16 male individuals (70-80 years old). the subjects were selected and evaluated for their respiratory muscle strength through the manometer indumed？ and expiratory peak flow through the flow of mini wright？ brand. the treatment program was conducted for 15 minutes, interspersed with one minute rest every four minutes of technique, three times a week for six consecutive weeks. after evaluation, the sample was randomly divided into groups: group 1 (g1, n = 7) - elderly submitted to the use the encouraged inspiratory (respiron？) and to expansive techniques (diaphragmatic breathing exercises and compression/decompression); group 2 (g2, n = 7) - manual expansive techniques; group 3 (g3, n = 7) - inspiratory incentive; group 4 (g4, n = 7) - control group. results: there was an improvement for all variables before and after treatment for the experimental groups, but the emphasis is given to group ii. conclusion: this study showed satisfactory results with the application of techniques for lung expansion and respiron？ in respiratory muscle strength and expiratory flow peak of institutionalized elderly.