Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Springer
Place of Publication
Heidelberg, Germany
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
19912
Abstract
Objective: To assess the effect of respiratory training (RT ) on lung function, activity tolerance and acute exacerbation frequency with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Design: A randomised controlled trial. Setting: Outpatient clinic and home of the COPD patients, Zhengzhou City, China. Subjects: Sixty participants with COPD were randomised into two groups: an intervention group ( n = 30) which received the RT in self-management and a control group ( n = 30) that received an education program during the study. Intervention: Pulmonary function, activity tolerance and frequency of acute exacerbation of these COPD patients were evaluated before and after the program. The intervention and control programs were delivered at monthly out - patient clinic visits over a period of 12 months. The pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program was conducted by a physiotherapist (who delivered RT to the participant over a minimum of 1 h per visit) for the intervention group, whereas the control group received routine health education provided by physiotherapists. The intervention group patients were then instructed to perform exercises at home as taught in the RT at least 5 days per week at home. Results: After 12 months of RT, the lung function and the activity tolerance of the COPD patients in the intervention group were significantly improved and the exacerbation frequency was also decreased. Conclusion: Long-term RT can improve lung function and activity tolerance while decreasing the frequency of acute exacerbation for COPD patients
DOI
10.1186/s40169-015-0073-2
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Xi, F., Qi, Y., Brightwell, R., Roberts, P., Stewart, A., Sim, M., & Wang, W. (2015). Long-term effect of respiratory training for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients at an outpatient clinic: a randomised controlled trial. Clinical and Translational Medicine, 4(1) e 31. Available here