The effects of respiratory training for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients: a randomised clinical trial

Aims and objectives. To assess the effects of respiratory training on lung function, activity tolerance and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Background. For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary rehabilitation can increase activity tolerance and improve their psychological state by relieving dyspnoea and promoting their quality of life. Design. A randomised clinical trial was conducted in a local hospital. Methods. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 20) and control groups (n = 20). Spirometry, six-minute walking distance and quality of life were used to assess the efficacy of respiratory training programme. Results. Significant improvement in lung function, including forced vital capacity (p = 0.037), forced expiratory volume in one-second (p = 0.006) and per cent predicted forced expiratory volume in one-second (p = 0.008) in the intervention group. Regarding efficacy of the training programme for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in forced expiratory volume in one-second (p = 0.024) and per cent predicted forced expiratory volume in one-second (p = 0.035), six-minute walking distance significantly increased. In addition, there were significant improvements for symptoms (p = 0.018), impact (p < 0.001) and total quality of life scores (p < 0.001), as well as significantly decreased body mass, airflow obstruction, dyspnoea and exercise capacity index (p = 0.004) in the intervention group. Conclusions. A respiratory training programme for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was found to relieve dyspnoea, maintain lung function, increase activity tolerance and improve quality of life. Relevance to clinical practice. Respiratory training programme can be used as a routine rehabilitation protocol for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and can be used by nurses as a reference to monitor chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients health status