Chest
Clinical Investigations: COPDProportional Assist Ventilation and Exercise Tolerance in Subjects With COPD
Section snippets
Subjects
Subjects with a clear diagnosis of COPD (based on history, clinical, chest radiographic, and physiologic evidence), who were clinically stable nonsmokers and who had given their informed consent, were included in the study. Subjects were excluded if they showed the presence of coexisting symptomatic disease, ie, a history or findings consistent with associated medical conditions that might influence exercise tolerance, evidence (by history or ECG) of any contraindications to exercise, or
Results
Ten subjects between the ages of 47 and 67 years with moderate to severe COPD completed the five exercise sessions. Their height, weight, and body mass index were 166 [12] cm, 70 [13] kg, and 25 [4] kg/m2, respectively. A description of their anthropometric and pulmonary function data is shown in Table 1. Three subjects did not complete their last session, one subject because of an acute respiratory exacerbation, one subject for personal family reasons, and one subject missed two sessions (CPAP
Discussion
The cornerstone of respiratory rehabilitation is exercise training. Other modalities such as education and psychosocial support may be useful as adjuncts to exercise training but by themselves are unlikely to influence exercise tolerance or health-related quality of life.3, 11 The magnitude of the physiologic training effect is strongly influenced by the intensity of the exercise.4 However, many subjects with COPD are unable to tolerate high workloads because they are limited by severe dyspnea.
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Cited by (0)
Supported by the West Park Hospital Foundation and the Network of Centres of Excellence—Respiratory Health.