Background
Balance disorders are one of the most important complications for patients with
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Objective
To investigate the effect of adding balance training to pulmonary rehabilitation
program in improving balance in patients with COPD.
Patients and methods
A total of 48 male patients diagnosed as having COPD were selected from the
outpatient clinic of Wadi El-Neel Hospital, Cairo, and their ages ranged from 60 to
65 years. Patients were assigned randomly into two equal groups. The study group
received balance training with pulmonary rehabilitation program, and the control
group received pulmonary rehabilitation program only. Exercise training was
performed for both groups three times a week for 8 weeks. Balance
assessment was performed by Berg Balance Scale, Balance Evaluation
Systems Test, and 6-min walking test before and after training.
Results
The 2×2 mixed-model analysis of variance analysis demonstrated significant
increase in the Berg Balance Scale and Balance Evaluation Systems Test after
treatment in both groups, with a percentage of improvement in control group was
5.01 and 9.15%, respectively, whereas in the study group was 16.04 and 25.46%,
respectively. However, the study group showed significant improvement than the
control group after treatment in both tests. Regarding 6-min walking test, both
groups showed significant increase after treatment, with a similar percentage of
improvement in the control group (23.95%) and the study group (24.93%). There
was no significant difference between the control and the study group after
treatment.
Conclusion
Addition of balance training to pulmonary rehabilitation program was more effective
in improving balance in elderly patients with COPD.
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