Respiratory Muscle Stretching in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Faculdade Evangelica do Parana

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 4

Conditions: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Treatments: Behavioral: respiratory muscle stretching

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00935181

3145/06

Details and patient eligibility

About

Objective: The investigators studied the effects of respiratory muscle stretching in an 8-week pulmonary rehabilitation program. Methods: This was a simple-blind parallel controlled trial, conducted an out-patient clinic. Twenty six patients with COPD (mean age 68 ± 6 y, percent of predicted FEV1 47 ± 16) were randomized to either respiratory muscle stretching group plus exercise training (RMS), and exercise training group (Sham), in an 8-week exercise program that had 3 sessions per week. The investigators measured inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength (by maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure - PIM and PEM), exercise capacity (by 6-minute walk distance), dyspnea and quality of life.

Enrollment: 26 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 40 to 75 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Subjects between 40 and 75 years of age referred by a physician to the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program
• With a clinical and spirometric diagnosis of moderate to severe COPD according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), in a stable condition (without exacerbations or infections for at least a month)
• Former smokers

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with a known history of asthma, or severe and/or unstable heart disease
• Any other pathological condition that could impair their physical activities

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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26 participants in 1 patient group

exercise training program

Experimental group

Description:

The exercise training program consisted of three 90-minute sessions per week for eight weeks. Each session consisted of a stretching exercise, resistance that patients started at 70% of the initial one-repetition maximum (1RM: the maximum load which can be moved only once over the full range of motion without compensatory movements) in the first week (3x8 repetitions). Every week the load was increased by 5% of the 1RM, and endurance training (treadmill walking speed was set at 60% of the average speed obtained from the 6MWT (6MWTpeak) for 10 mins in the first week and was increased to 20 mins in week 8

Treatment:

Behavioral: respiratory muscle stretching