The effect of short-term, intensive rehabilitation exercises on the respiration, life quality and sleep of persons with obstructive sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effect of short-term intensive rehabilitation training on respiratory function, motor function and the life quality of patients with obstructive sleep apnea combined with chronic obstruc-tive pulmonary disease ( OSA-COPD) . Methods Fifty-seven patients with OSA-COPD were randomly divided in-to an observation group and a control group. Both groups were treated with non-invasive positive pressure ventilation ( NPPV) , oxygen therapy and a bronchodilator, while the observation group was additionally provided with 8 weeks of intensive lung rehabilitation training, including respiratory function training and limb exercise training. Polysom-nography was used to monitor the apnea hyponea index ( AHI) , the lowest oxygen saturation level during the night ( LowSpO2 ) and the nocturnal oxygen saturation ratio for ＜ 90% of total sleep time ( tst90) . Arterial blood gases, forced vital capacity ( FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second ( FEV1 ) were measured. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and St. George's respiratory questionnaire ( SGRQ) were used to evaluate all the patients before and after the intervention. Results After 8 weeks of treatment, the average AHI, LowSpO2 , TST90 and PaO2 had improved significantly in both groups. There was no significant difference between them. After the treatment the average FVC, FEV1 and 6MWT time of the observation group were significantly better than before the treatment and the significantly better than the control group's averages. After treatment, the average SGRQ score and activity abili-ty score of the observation group were also significantly improved and significantly better than the control group's av-erages. Conclusions NPPV can effectively improve OSA-COPD patients'tolerance of short-term intensive pulmo-nary rehabilitation training. With that assistance, short-term intensive rehabilitation training can promote the recov-ery of respiratory function and motor function, and improve the life quality of patients. Therefore, such therapy is worthy of clinical promotion and application.