Effects of long-term home-based Liuzijue exercise combined with clinical guidance in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Peijun Li,1,* Jingxin Liu,1,* Yufan Lu,1 Xiaodan Liu,2 Zhenwei Wang,3 Weibing Wu1 1Department of Sports Medicine, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the effects of long-term home-based Liuzijue exercise combined with clinical guidance in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: Forty patients with COPD at stages II–III of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease were enrolled. The subjects were randomly allocated to the Liuzijue exercise group (LG) or control group (CG) in a 1:1 ratio. Participants in the LG performed six Liuzijue training sessions, including 4 days at home and 2 days in the hospital with clinical guidance for 60 minutes/day for 6 months. Participants in the CG conducted no exercise intervention. In addition, lung function test, 6-minute walking test (6MWT), 30-second sit-to-stand test (30 s SST), and the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were conducted at the baseline and at the end of the intervention. Results: Thirty-six patients completed the study. The patients’ lung function improved significantly (p < 0.05) in the LG as well as the 6MWT, 30 s SST, and SGRQ score (p < 0.01). While the SGRQ total score, activity, and impact scores increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the CG. In addition, there were significant differences between the groups (p < 0.01) in regard to the values of forced expiratory volume in 1 second as a percentage of the predicted volume, 6MWT, 30 s SST, and SGRQ. Conclusions: Long-term home-based Liuzijue exercise combined with clinical guidance can effectively improve the pulmonary function, exercise capacity, and quality of life of elderly patients with moderate to severe COPD. Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, elderly patients, Liuzijue exercise, pulmonary function, exercise capacity, quality of life

Keywords

• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• elderly patients
• Liuzijue exercise
• pulmonary function
• exercise capacity
• quality of life