Effects of Otago Exercise Program vs Circuit Training on Balance in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a respiratory disease that result in progressive restriction of airflow and respiratory distress and is the 4th leading cause of death. In specific, it happens among smokers over the age of 40 and individuals exposed to biomass smoke. The prevalence of COPD is expected to increase as the population ages. Pakistan is a lower-middle-income country, and facing a high burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. The prevalence of COPD among Pakistani adults aged more than 40 years is 2.1% In addition to pulmonary symptoms, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease develop many other manifestations of the disease, such as cardiovascular co morbidities, peripheral muscle dysfunction, weight loss, systemic inflammation, and psychological problems. People also have reduced capacity for exercise and functional mobility. Among all, one important extra respiratory manifestation is impaired balance. It is a frequent problem in stable COPD and increases with the severity of the disease. As in COPD there is loss of body cells which causes skeletal muscle weakness and balance impairment.

Since skeletal muscle dysfunction in people with COPD is a commonly identified impairment, it is not surprising that lower-limb muscle weakness has also been linked in this population to balance deficits and increased risk of falling. Muscle strength in both the upper and lower extremities is reduced in COPD patients along with impairments in exercise tolerance.

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an effective COPD intervention that involves exercise training and psychosocial support, and patient education to achieve maximum community independence and function. This recommended standard of care, however, focuses primarily on training peripheral muscles through endurance and strength training and does not include a particular training component. The effective intervention to successfully reduce both the rate and risk of falling has been shown to be exercise with balance-specific training.

As COPD decreases the amount of physical activity, even early in the disease phase, and impairs the strength of the lower limb muscle thus affecting balance. Balance training protocols together with pulmonary rehabilitation exercises helps to improve balance and symptoms of COPD. Although both circuit training and Otago exercise program are effective for balance training but Otago exercise program is home-based exercise program, which, if proven effective, will help the COPD patients to do work up at home, thereby reducing cost of hospital visits and improving balance ability and thus the quality of life more effectively.