Yoga As A Non-pharmacological Treatment Modality for Patients of COPD
Keywords:
Yoga, Pulmonary Rehabilitation, COPDAbstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health problem worldwide. Various non pharmacological modalities are being investigated for the management of COPD, in addition to medical and surgical treatment. Yoga training is one such adjuvant therapy. A study was hence conducted to determine the effectiveness of yoga training in patients of COPD. It was a prospective study conducted on 50 COPD patients diagnosed as per GOLD 2021 guidelines. They were divided into two groups of 25 patients each. The yoga
group received adjuvant yoga therapy along with medical management. The control group received medical management only. At baseline, forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC, saturation of peripheral oxygen (SpO2),
modified medical research council dyspnea scale (mMRC), six-minute walk distance test (6MWD) and COPD assessment test (CAT) score was noted in both the groups and the same parameters were studied at follow-up at 1st month and 3rd month. The FEV1, FVC, 6MWD and
CAT score improved significantly in both the groups from baseline to 3rd month (p < 0.001). The FEV1/FVC also improved significantly in both yoga (p = 0.001) and control group (p = 0.012) from baseline to 3rd month. mMRC improved in both the groups from baseline to 3rd month but the improvement was significant in the yoga group only (p = 0.002). No significant improvements from baseline to 3rd month were seen in SpO2 in either of the two groups. Yoga group showed statistically significant additional improvement in mMRC (p = 0.002), 6MWD (p value <0.001) and CAT score (p value <0.001) from baseline to 3rd month, when improvements in both the groups were compared with each other. There was no additional benefit of yoga on FEV1 (p value = 0.051), FVC (p value = 0.165), FEV1/FVC (p value = 0.167) and SpO2 (p value = 0.650). We concluded that 3 months of yoga training is an effective adjuvant to medical
management in patients of COPD.
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