Chest
Original ResearchCOPDEffects of a Walking Aid in COPD Patients Receiving Oxygen Therapy
Section snippets
Patients
Consecutive COPD inpatients who were admitted to a comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation program from January to December 2005 at the hospital facilities of Villa Pineta (Gaiato-MO), IRCCS San Raffaele (Velletri-Roma), and Clinic Center (Napoli) were recruited. The predetermined recruitment of 20 patients per center was finalized.
Eligible patients had to receive LTOT for at least 6 months before enrollment and be in stable condition with no evidence of acute exacerbation or change in
Sample Characteristics
Sixty COPD patients (mean age, 70.6 years) were included in the study. General characteristics of the study sample are shown in Table 1.
On average, patients had normal body mass index values and normal resting arterial oxygenation under correction with appropriate external Fio2. Thirty-seven patients walked < 300 m during standard 6MWT (No-Aid modality).
6MWT Distance
Table 2 shows the results of the two walking session modalities in the total sample. Overall, distance walked and symptoms (primary outcomes)
Discussion
This study shows that walking with a wheeled cart is able to improve distance, symptoms, and cardiopulmonary parameters in COPD patients receiving LTOT. These results are of particular relevance among the subgroup of patients who are more disabled.
Although there are still not sufficient data in the literature regarding activities in patients receiving LTOT, a randomized controlled trial13 has shown that outdoor walking distance improves in patients receiving portable oxygen with respect to
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully thank Ms. Shirley Ann Woods for editorial assistance.
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Management of breathlessness in patients with cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines †
2020, ESMO OpenCitation Excerpt :Mobility aids help to improve both breathlessness and mobility through an increased ventilatory capacity and/or reduced metabolic cost.29 30 Despite the absence of studies in patients with cancer, several randomised crossover studies in breathless patients with COPD demonstrate that use of a rollator improves self-paced walking distance in both indoor31 32 and outdoor environments,33 especially in patients severely limited by breathlessness including those using ambulatory oxygen.34 Using a modern ‘draisine’ (bicycle without pedals) improved indoor walking distance further still, with the same metabolic requirements and breathlessness scores,35 but in outdoor environments with obstacles it had a detrimental effect on mobility compared with unaided walking.33
The impact of carrying supplemental oxygen on exercise capacity and dyspnea in patients with interstitial lung disease
2018, Respiratory MedicineCitation Excerpt :The differences we observed in distance covered and dyspnea were not as large as in any of these three studies, but the lung disease was not nearly as severe in our subjects who, on average had mild or mild-moderate ILD (compared with severe or very severe COPD in those studies). In a subgroup analysis [9], Crisafulli and colleagues observed that the most impaired COPD patients appeared to have the most to gain: among the 37 subjects whose baseline walk distance was ≤300 m, dyspnea (4.0 points vs. 6.0 points, p = 0.001) and distance (213 points vs. 256 points, p = 0.001) both improved. In contrast, among the 23 subjects whose walk distance was >300 m, although dyspnea was less when they pulled (versus carried) the trolley, walk distance was not significantly different (pull O2 trolley: 340 m vs. carry O2 trolley: 349 m, p = 0.15) – nor were other parameters, such as nadir SpO2 or drop in SpO2 from baseline.
Rehabilitation and supportive therapy in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
2014, European Journal of Internal MedicineCitation Excerpt :The use of wheeled aid walker (e.g. rollator) was proposed to optimize ventilatory capacity and to improve mechanical efficiency of exercise in elderly patients with COPD [82]. Positive gains were obtained in terms of exercise tolerance, dyspnea sensation and leg fatigue on exertion in these patients even when suffering from insufficient gas exchange and chronic hypoxemia [83]. It is likely that this clinical finding may help a substantial reduction of social isolation and a better quality of life when outdoor.
Exercise training modalities and strategies to improve exercise performance in patients with respiratory disease
2014, Revista Portuguesa de PneumologiaImpact of different types of walking aids on the physiological energy cost during gait for elderly individuals with several pathologies and dependent on a technical aid for walking
2010, Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine
The authors have reported to the ACCP that no significant conflicts of interest exist with any companies/organizations whose products or services may be discussed in this article.