Noninvasive Ventilation on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patient Functionality

Impact of Aerobic Physical Training Associated With Noninvasive Ventilation on COPD Patient Functionality - A Controlled Randomized Study

On the following tests, there would be a greater increase in the functionality of COPD patients who underwent combined therapy than in those who only exercised: a set of activities of daily living (ADLs), the six-minute walk test (6MWT), an incremental symptom-limited cardiopulmonary test (CPT), and the physical functioning scale of the Short-Form 36 quality of life questionnaire (SF-36).

Impact of aerobic exercise plus noninvasive ventilation (NIV) on the functionality of patients with COPD. Thirty patients (70.5 - 8.5 years) with COPD (forced expiratory volume in the first second 48.5 - 15.4% of predicted) were randomized into either a physical training group involving aerobic treadmill exercise (PTG, n=12) or an exercise plus bilevel ventilation group (PTGNIV, n=11) with sessions three times a week for six weeks.

Inclusion Criteria:

• COPD diagnosis
• with a forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC)<70%
• clinical stability in the previous two months (i.e., no exacerbation of the disease).

Exclusion Criteria:

• decompensated heart failure or rheumatic, orthopedic or neuromuscular diseases that prevented the subjects from performing the tests due to exercise limitations;
• participation in a regular physical exercise program at the beginning of the study;
• noncompletion of one of the tests or the established protocol for any reason.