Effects of long-term home-based Liuzijue exercise combined with clinical guidance in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• Published in: Clinical interventions in aging 2018-01, Vol.13, p.1391-1399
• Main Authors: Li, Peijun, Liu, Jingxin, Lu, Yufan, Liu, Xiaodan, Wang, Zhenwei, Wu, Weibing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Case-Control Studies; Chinese medicine; Chronic illnesses; Chronic obstructive lung disease; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Clinical trials; Combined Modality Therapy; Dyspnea; Elderly; Elderly patients; Exercise; exercise capacity; Exercise therapy; Female; Fitness training programs; Gerontology; Hospitals; Humans; Integrative medicine; Intervention; Liuzijue exercise; Lung diseases; Male; Medical research; Middle Aged; Mortality; Older people; Original Research; Patient Education as Topic - methods; Physical fitness; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - psychology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - therapy; pulmonary function; Pulmonary function tests; Qigong - methods; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Rehabilitation; Respiratory Function Tests; Respiratory tract diseases; Society; Strength training; Surveys and Questionnaires; Systematic review
• ISSN: 1178-1998; 1176-9092; 1178-1998
• DOI: 10.2147/CIA.S169671

This study was designed to investigate the effects of long-term home-based Liuzijue exercise combined with clinical guidance in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Forty patients with COPD at stages II-III of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease were enrolled. The subjects were randomly allocated to the Liuzijue exercise group (LG) or control group (CG) in a 1:1 ratio. Participants in the LG performed six Liuzijue training sessions, including 4 days at home and 2 days in the hospital with clinical guidance for 60 minutes/day for 6 months. Participants in the CG conducted no exercise intervention. In addition, lung function test, 6-minute walking test (6MWT), 30-second sit-to-stand test (30 s SST), and the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were conducted at the baseline and at the end of the intervention. Thirty-six patients completed the study. The patients' lung function improved significantly ( < 0.05) in the LG as well as the 6MWT, 30 s SST, and SGRQ score ( < 0.01). While the SGRQ total score, activity, and impact scores increased significantly ( < 0.05) in the CG. In addition, there were significant differences between the groups ( < 0.01) in regard to the values of forced expiratory volume in 1 second as a percentage of the predicted volume, 6MWT, 30 s SST, and SGRQ. Long-term home-based Liuzijue exercise combined with clinical guidance can effectively improve the pulmonary function, exercise capacity, and quality of life of elderly patients with moderate to severe COPD.