Biofeedback for improving the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Background: Due to the non-adherence after the training program, the benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in patients with COPD might fade away with time. Accordingly, a psychological intervention is indispensable for improving the adherence of PR exercise. Objectives: To test the effectiveness of combined a biofeedback with PR on improving adherence to regular exercise and the quality of life in patients with COPD. Methods: This is a randomized controlled trial. Thirty-six subjects were recruited from a medical center in Taiwan, and were randomly assigned to usual care, PR alone, or combined PR and biofeedback group. All subjects received twice a week supervised hospital training and a weekly unsupervised home training for four weeks. Psychophysiological indices were measured at pre-, post-training, and 3-month follow-up. Results: Combined PR and biofeedback group had significantly higher adherence to regular exercise at 3 months follow-up than the other two groups (χ2 =12.6, p= 0.01). Both PR alone and combined PR and biofeedback groups showed significantly improve 6MWD at 3-month follow-up (p Conclusion: PR exercise can improve exercise tolerance and quality of life for COPD patients. Integrated biofeedback with PR exercise can further improve adherence to regular exercise and physical component of quality of life.