The effects of Pilates and diaphragm exercises on some pulmonary factors in chronic obstructive pulmonary Patients

Introduction and purpose: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most important pulmonary diseases. The most important way to minimize the progress of the disease is to rehabilitate the lung. Rehabilitation of the lung improves respiratory pattern. To this end, the effects of two types of Pilates and Diaphragm exercises on some of the pulmonary factors in these patients were investigated. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 24 male patients with mean age (56 ± 4/51) with moderate COPD were selected and randomly assigned into three groups of 8 (diaphragm exercise, Pilates exercise and group Control). Pilates and diaphragm exercises were performed for 8 weeks and 3 sessions per week in two exercises groups separately. The control group did not do any exercise. The Spirometry system measured the FEV1/FVC and respiratory rate per minute. The Modified Borg Dyspnoea Scale was completed to assess the dyspnea of ​​the subjects. To analyze the data, Paired t-test was used. Findings: The findings showed that both types of exercise had an effect on pulmonary factors. FEV1 / FVC were significantly different between exercise and control groups (P≤ 0.05). There was a significant difference in the amount of dyspnea and respiratory rate in minutes between training and control groups (P≤ 0.05). No changes were observed in the control group (P> 0.05). Conclusion: Pilates and diaphragm exercises seem to play an important role in improving the pulmonary pattern of patients with pulmonary disease. The results showed that both types of exercises improved pulmonary factor, increased FEV1/FVC, and decreased dyspnea and respiratory rate per minute. Therefore, the use of the above exercises in the pulmonary rehabilitation program is recommended