lower limb neuromuscular electrical stimulation

The control group only participated in the lung rehabilitation exercise program (after which the control group received electrical stimulation for two months)

The study adopts a quasi-experimental design with convenience sampling. Data collection will be done through structured questionnaires. Patients who meet the inclusion criteria will be referred by physicians, and before enrollment, a verbal introduction will be given explaining the study's purpose, the questionnaire, and the intervention procedure and duration. The experimental group will participate in both pulmonary rehabilitation exercises and an additional intervention of lower limb neuromuscular electrical stimulation, 30 minutes per session, three times per week, for eight weeks. The control group will only participate in pulmonary rehabilitation exercises. Based on Hill et al. (2018), neuromuscular electrical stimulation should continue for 4 to 8 weeks. Questionnaires will be administered before the intervention and at the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th weeks post-intervention, including basic information, Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale, Manchester COPD Fatigue Scale,

This scale is used to assess an individual's confidence in performing exercise behaviors when faced with various situations that are not conducive to exercise. The Chinese version of the Sports Self-efficacy Scale consists of 10 questions, scored from 0 to 10, to understand the degree of confidence in engaging in sports. "0" represents little confidence, and "10" represents great confidence. The higher the score, the more confident one is in performing sports in the face of various situations and obstacles.

Modified Medical Research Council(mMRC)

The Manchester fatigue scale (MFS) is divided into three aspects, including fatigue conditions such as physiological level (11 questions), cognitive feelings (9 questions) and psychosocial function (7 questions). There are 27 questions in total, with a five-point scoring method. The scoring method is 1 point for "never", 2 points for "rarely", 3 points for "sometimes", 4 points for "often", and 5 points for "always". The higher the score, the higher the degree of fatigue.

The project leader will collect data on the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) before the intervention and eight weeks after the intervention. If there is no pre-test data of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) will be administered again two months after the intervention.