Pulmonary rehabilitation training for improving pulmonary function and exercise tolerance in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objective: To investigate the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation training on pulmonary function and exercise tolerance in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: By a random number table method, 90 patients with COPD admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to January 2020 were divided into three groups: the control group (conventional treatment), the observation group A (conventional treatment + pulmonary rehabilitation training three times a week) and the observation group B (conventional treatment + pulmonary rehabilitation training five times a week), with 30 patients in each group. The pulmonary function, exercise tolerance (the 6 min walking distance (6MWD)), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)) and quality of life (generic quality of life inventory-74 (GQOLI-74)) before and after intervention were compared among the three groups. Also, the satisfaction rate was recorded in all groups. Results: After 6 months of intervention, the FEV1%, FVC% and FEV1/FVC as well as the GQOLI-74 scores increased significantly, while the PSQI scores decreased markedly in all groups as compared to those before intervention; the index levels and GQOLI-74 scores were significantly higher, and PSQI scores were markedly lower in the observation group B than in the other two groups (all P<0.05). After 3 and 6 months of intervention, the 6MWDs of the three groups were significantly increased compared with those before intervention, and the 6MWD was significantly longer in the observation group B than in the other two groups (P<0.05). Moreover, the satisfaction rate was significantly higher in observation group B than in the other two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: For patients with stable COPD, pulmonary rehabilitation training based on drug therapy can improve the pulmonary function, exercise tolerance, sleep quality and quality of life more effectively than drug treatment alone. What's more, the therapeutic effect of training five times a week is significantly better than that of training three times a week.