Effect of visual feedback aerobic exercise training on lung hyperinflation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients – A randomized control trial

Abstract

CONTEXT: Lung hyperinflation is defined as an abnormal increase in the volume of air remaining in the lungs at the end of normal expiration caused by the permanently destructive changes of emphysema and expiratory flow limitation. All the rehabilitation exercise programs have some reinforcement on hyperinflation mechanism directly or indirectly without any associated feedback. AIMS: This study aims to study the effect of visual biofeedback training on lung hyperinflation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 104 mild to moderate (global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease) COPD patient of age group 40–60 years were recruited and randomly allocated to control and experimental group using random reviewer software 3.3 versions. The baseline and postoutcomes were analyzed by an external observer who is blinded. The visual training group receives biofeedback training on expiratory flow limitation. Both experimental and control group receives aerobic exercise training of 50%–60% of maximum heart rate intensity where all received cycling as a mode for 20–40 min with a warm and cool‑down period. All the patients were trained for 4 days a week for 8 weeks. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive statistics, independent sample t‑test, and repeated measures of analysis of variance. RESULTS: Residual volume and total lung capacity significantly reduced statistics F = 12.23 with P < 0.001 between the group. Breath hold time and maximum expiratory pressure showed increase response with significant statistics of F = 8.53 with P < 0.05 between the group. CONCLUSION: Visual feedback exercise training is one of the effective training methods to relieve the hyperinflation in stable COPD patients thereby improves exercise tolerance and quality of life.