TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical outcomes of expiratory muscle training in severe COPD patients
AU - Mota, Susana
AU - Güell, Rosa
AU - Barreiro, Esther
AU - Solanes, Ingrid
AU - Ramírez-Sarmiento, Alba
AU - Orozco-Levi, Mauricio
AU - Casan, Pere
AU - Gea, Joaquim
AU - Sanchis, Joaquín
PY - 2007/3/1
Y1 - 2007/3/1
N2 - The most common symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are breathlessness and exercise limitation. Although both general and inspiratory muscle training have shown clinical benefits, the effects of specific expiratory muscle training remain controversial. Objective: To investigate the effects of expiratory training on lung function, exercise tolerance, symptoms and health-related quality of life in severe COPD patients. Methods: Sixteen patients (FEV1, 28±8% pred.) were randomised to either expiratory muscle or sham training groups, both completing a 5-week programme (30 min sessions breathing through an expiratory threshold valve 3 times per week) (50% of their maximal expiratory pressure (MEP) vs. placebo, respectively). Lung function, exercise capacity (bicycle ergometry and walking test), and clinical outcomes (dyspnoea and quality of life (St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)) were evaluated both at baseline and following the training period. Results: Although lung function remained roughly unchanged after training, exercise capacity, symptoms and quality of life significantly improved. The improvement in both walking distance and the SGRQ score significantly correlated with changes in MEP. Conclusion: Our results confirm that a short outpatient programme of expiratory training can improve symptoms and quality of life in severe COPD patients. These effects could be partially explained by changes in expiratory muscle strength. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
AB - The most common symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are breathlessness and exercise limitation. Although both general and inspiratory muscle training have shown clinical benefits, the effects of specific expiratory muscle training remain controversial. Objective: To investigate the effects of expiratory training on lung function, exercise tolerance, symptoms and health-related quality of life in severe COPD patients. Methods: Sixteen patients (FEV1, 28±8% pred.) were randomised to either expiratory muscle or sham training groups, both completing a 5-week programme (30 min sessions breathing through an expiratory threshold valve 3 times per week) (50% of their maximal expiratory pressure (MEP) vs. placebo, respectively). Lung function, exercise capacity (bicycle ergometry and walking test), and clinical outcomes (dyspnoea and quality of life (St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)) were evaluated both at baseline and following the training period. Results: Although lung function remained roughly unchanged after training, exercise capacity, symptoms and quality of life significantly improved. The improvement in both walking distance and the SGRQ score significantly correlated with changes in MEP. Conclusion: Our results confirm that a short outpatient programme of expiratory training can improve symptoms and quality of life in severe COPD patients. These effects could be partially explained by changes in expiratory muscle strength. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW - Breathing exercises
KW - Dyspnoea
KW - Exercise
KW - Quality of life
KW - Rehabilitation
KW - Respiratory muscles
U2 - 10.1016/j.rmed.2006.06.024
DO - 10.1016/j.rmed.2006.06.024
M3 - Article
VL - 101
SP - 516
EP - 524
IS - 3
ER -