Efficacy of Breathing Retrainer on Retraining Breathing Pattern, Dyspnea and Lung Function in Patients with Copd

Abstract

In India COPD is the second most common lung disorder. COPD is characterized by progressive dyspnea, cough, sputum, altered breathing pattern, reduced oxygen saturation, respiratory muscle fatigue, reduced lung capacities, limited exercise capacity. Conventional physiotherapy techniques such as pursed lip breathing and diaphragmatic breathing are proved to be helpful in relieving dyspnea, reducing the work and rate of breathing, assure adequate oxygen to the working muscles, improving the exercise capacity and lung function, but these techniques require continuous therapist supervision and verbal commands. The new breathing retrainer device is designed to provide visual and kinesthetic stimulation which acts like a feed forward mechanism.

Objectives: To identify the effect of breathing retraining on respiratory rate, I:E ratio and lung function.

Materials and methods: In this study 40 patients with COPD were included ( stage I,II, III according to GOLD criteria). These were divided into group I(therapist assisted breathing retraining) and group II ( device assisted breathing retraining). Both groups underwent treatment for 5 days, twice daily for 30 min. Treatment included diaphragmatic breathing and pursed lip breathing with rest periods. Outcomes were respiratory rate, I:E ratio, SpO2 and spirometry.

Results: All the parameters showed statistically significant improvement pre and post within the groups. No difference was found by comparing among the groups.

Conclusion: Breathing retrainer is an effective device to retrain the breathing pattern, reduce dyspnea and to improve lung function in COPD patients. It can be used as a substitute to the therapist.