The Effects of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Bone Mineral Density in Patients Diagnosed With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Patients suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are reported to have a high prevalence rate and increased risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis especially due to the intake of corticosteroids, a factor which increases their risks of falls and likelihood of fractures. Considering the enormous impact of such fractures on COPD patients, prophylactic measures are warranted to prevent further loss of BMD to reduce their risk of fractures and their related adverse consequences. Exercise has been reported to lead to improvements in BMD. Evidence regarding the effects of such an intervention on BMD in COPD patients is still very limited. In view of this, the aims of such a study are to identify whether a 16-week Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) programme leads to improvements in BMD in patients with osteopenia and osteoporosis diagnosed with stable COPD.

A minimum of 80 patients shall be allocated to either the active group or the control group by the intermediary. The active group shall receive a PR Programme delivered twice weekly for a period of 16 weeks which shall be followed by a maintenance home exercise programme for a period of 36 weeks. The other group which shall consist of patients who do not wish to participate in Pulmonary Rehabilitation but show the wish to form part of this study, or participants who are on the waiting list to be enrolled into the Rehabilitation classes, shall act as a control for the study and therefore not undergo PR and the following maintenance home exercise programme until completion of the study.

As part of the assessment, at baseline (week 0), demographic and anthropometric details and individual patient factors known to affect bone metabolism including; age, gender, smoking status and any concurrent prescribed medications and supplements, shall be gathered directly from all participants. The patients' body weight and height and the Body Mass Index shall be then calculated. Each participant's last DEXA scan measurement shall be retrieved from the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) through the intermediary. All participants shall also have their functional mobility level and fall risk assessed using the Timed "Up and Go" test (TUGT). Estimated 10-year probability of hip fractures and major osteoporotic fractures shall be predicted using WHO web-based fracture risk assessment (FRAX) tool. All participants shall also have their functional exercise capacity assessed using the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT).

At week 16 and at week 52 all patients shall be reassessed as baseline, except for the measurement of the bone mineral density which shall be taken using DEXA scan only at week 52 and shall be retrieved from the PACS through the intermediary for the active and control group subjects and shall be required per protocol.