Whole Body Vibration in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients

Effects of Whole Body Vibration Training in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The whole body vibration offers better treatment adherence among the elderly, minimizing effort and additional stress to the cardiovascular system and skeletal muscles compared to conventional exercise programs.

Hypothesis: Patients with COPD undergoing a training program on the whole body vibration show better performance in the 6MWT and improvement in muscle strength.

In the elderly and in COPD patients weight loss includes sarcopenia, resulting from aging itself or due to disuse or disease states associated with and represents the reduction in muscle mass, leading to decreased strength and endurance, with repercussions on the functional abilities of the same. It reduces the power and muscle strength with aging which represent decreasing to carry out daily physical tasks.

In COPD, exacerbations worsen the loss of muscle mass, affecting the respiratory and peripheral muscles, exercise capacity and survival rates, and in the case of severe malnutrition in advanced cases of the disease, the implications of this state are disability which occur between 10-15% in those with mild obstruction and 25% in moderate to severe obstructive and are associated with worse prognosis.

The whole body vibration could be an efficient combination of training methods for elderly patients and is based on the generation of sinusoidal vibrations offered by a platform, which stimulates the muscle spindles resulting in activation of neurons α engines and develop muscle contractions, presenting itself as an alternative to conventional treatment for muscular endurance as well as improving physical fitness

Inclusion Criteria:

• Smoking history, occupational or environmental exposure to pollutants and / or cough, hypersecretion or dyspnea,
• FEV1 <80% predicted and postbronchodilator FEV1/FVC <70% to confirm the diagnosis of airway obstruction air not fully reversible bronchodilator therapy,
• Have the ability to perform the walk test, 6 minutes, absence of comorbidities that preclude the achievement of effort (hypertension, severe pulmonary hypertension, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, severe dyspnea)
• Preserved cognitive functioning,
• Clinically stable during the study period

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have cognitive impairment, hearing or visual compromise the response to the questionnaires used in this study
• Make modifications to the appliance neuro-musculo-skeletal system that prevents the completion of the 6MWT
• Be participating in physical activity programs.