Effects of Different Exercise Therapies on Obstruction, Dyspnea, and Quality of Life in Copd Patients: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Abstract
 Objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death and it causes pulmonary and extrapulmonary symptoms, also impacts the quality of life. Rigorous evidence on manual and mechanical chest physiotherapy is still scarce. Therefore, this review aims to evaluate the effects of different exercise therapies on obstruction, dyspnea and quality of life in obstructive patients.
 Materials and Methods: Databases such as Medline, BioMed Central, CINHAL and Cochrane were reviewed. We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials published from 2011 to 2020, to evaluate the effects of exercise therapies on obstruction, dyspnea and quality of life in obstructive patients. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using the Cochrane tool.
 Results: Most of the trials supported the effectiveness of mechanical chest physiotherapy in improving obstruction, dyspnea and quality of life.
 Conclusion: High-to-moderate evidence shows that mechanical chest physiotherapy is useful in the improvement of obstruction, dyspnea and quality of life in obstructive patients.
 
 Keywords: Borg dyspnea scale, COPD, High-frequency chest wall oscillation, mMRC dyspnea scale, St. George Respiratory Questionnaire, Spirometry