| Abstract |
Back ground: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is a leading cause of
mortality and morbidity worldwide, is the main cause of persistent obstruction of the airway leading
to respiratory muscle weakness.
Aim of this study: comparing the response of pulmonary functions to resisted inspiratory muscles
training versus pneumatic compression in COPD patients.
Patients and Methods: randomized prospective clinical study included 40 male patients with
moderate and sever COPD according to GOLD. They were recruited from outpatient clinic of chest
disease, Benha University Hospitals. patients were randomly assigned into two equal groups, group
A received inspiratory muscle training (30%of maximum inspiratory pressure) and group B
received intermittent pneumatic compression with abdominal sleeve (30% of one-repetition
maximum). All patients trained 3 times per week for 12 weeks. Respiratory function tests (forced
expiratory volume in first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory
flow rate (PEFR), forced expiratory flow at 25%-75% (FEF 25-75%), Modified Borg Dyspnea
Scale (MBS), six-minute walk test (6MWT), maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max), COPD
assessment test (CAT) and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) were compared before
interventions and post 12 weeks.
Results: Comparison between- group post- treatment values revealed a significant increase in
FEV1% improvements (23.81% and 7.26%), FVC% improvements (23.74% and 7.73%), PEFR%
improvements (35.78% and 8.22%), FEF25-75% (% improvements 32.23% and 12.11%) and 6
MWT% improvements (56.35% and 24.11%) of group A compared with that of group B (p < 0.05).
There was a significant decrease in MBS% improvements (50% and 37.74%), CAT%
improvements (21.11% and 29.06%), HADS-D% improvements (45.27 and 35.23) and HADS-A%
improvements (43.91% and 33.56%) of group A compared with that of group B (p < 0.05). There
was no significant difference post intervention in FEV1/FVC and VO2 max between groups (p >
0.05).
Conclusions: Inspiratory muscle training and intermittent pneumatic compression improve
pulmonary functions. Intermittent pneumatic compression can be considered as an effective
component for pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients |
