Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an irreversible pulmonary obstruction. Respiratory exercise training by a feedback-based model besides the routine managements have been considered to perform.
Research design and methods: Eighty exacerbated COPD patients with informed consent were divided to the control group (n = 40) received the routine approach and the intervention group (n = 40) received a teach-back training method (TBTM) of respiratory exercise including diaphragmatic breathing (DB), pursed-lip breathing (PLB), and effective coughing (EC) plus routine approach. The clinical outcomes were evaluated by measurement of the FEV1/FVC ratio, the Borg scale of dyspnea (BSD), and the 6-minute walking test (6MWT) results at the baseline, just after TBTM, and next 3 months.
Results: FEV1/FVC ratio has been indicated the significant improvement followed by TBTM compare to the baseline (p < 0.001). Moreover, the BSD scores in 3-month follow-up after TBTM were significantly lower compared to the baseline (6 ± 1.3 vs. 3.8 ± 0.78, p < 0.001). Although a significant difference was reported in 6MWT distance between two groups after 3-month follow-up (p < 0.001), there was no significant difference immediately after the TBTM (p = 0.992) that suggested a long-term effect of educational intervention on physical activity.
Conclusion: Significant enhancement in the clinical variables can demonstrate the efficacy of the TBTM program in reducing COPD patients' symptoms.
Trial registration: http//www.irct.ir.Unique identifier: IRCT20181024041449N5.
Keywords: Breathing exercises; COPD; education.