The Effects of Controlled Breathing during Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients with COPD

Background: Conventional pulmonary rehabilitation programs improve exercise tolerance but have no effect on pulmonary function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The role of controlled breathing using respiratory biofeedback during rehabilitation of patients with COPD remains unclear. Objectives: To compare the effects of a conventional 4-week pulmonary rehabilitation program with those of rehabilitation plus controlled breathing interventions. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was performed. Pulmonary function (FEV 1 ), exercise capacity (6-min walking distance, 6MWD), health-related quality of life (chronic respiratory questionnaire, CRQ) and cardiac autonomic function (rMSSD) were evaluated. Results: Forty COPD patients (mean 8 SD age 66.1 8 6.4, FEV 1 45.9 8 17.4% predicted) were randomized to rehabilitation (n = 20) or rehabilitation plus controlled breathing (n = 20). There were no statistically significant differences between the two Received: October 21, 2010 Accepted after revision: December 21, 2010 Published online: April 7, 2011 Dr. rer. medic. Arnoldus J.R. van Gestel Zurich University of Applied Sciences Technikumstrasse 71 CH–8401 Winterthur (Switzerland) Tel. +41 79 833 8275, E-Mail vrns @ zhaw.ch © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel 0025–7931/12/0832–0115$38.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/res ClinicalTrials.gov: Effects of breathing retraining in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01175265. D ow nl oa de d by : 54 .7 0. 40 .1 1 1/ 1/ 20 18 1 1: 54 :5 6 P M