The effect of balance training and conventional pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

The purpose of our study was to determine the added effect of a balance training program to conventional pulmonary rehabilitation on exercise capacity, balance, fall risk and health related quality of life in patients with moderate COPD. A Randomized Control Trial with two groups- Experimental and Control groups. 133 participants were randomly allocated to either the conventional pulmonary rehabilitation group or the combined pulmonary rehabilitation group with balance training. In the present study we found statistically significant improvement in Berg Balance Scale by -22.55%, Timed Up and Go test by -46.46%, Single Leg Stance Test by -51.69%, Activities Balance Confidence Score by 13.89%, Elderly Falls Screening Test by -57.42%, Six-minutes walk test by 3.04%, and St. George respiratory questionnaire total score by -18.16%.It is recommended that implementation of 8 weeks balance training with conventional pulmonary rehabilitation program is beneficial on improving balance, six-minute walk distance and health related quality of life in subjects with moderate COPD.