Effect of traditional Chinese exercise on pulmonary function in middle-aged and older patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A randomized controlled trial
Author: Ziying Chen1, Hongyu Yue1, Yuanjia Gu2, Chaoqun Xie2, Jianwen Ma2, Fangfang Xie2, Guangdong Wang3, Fei Yao4
Affiliation:
1 Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
2 School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
3 Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: drgdwang@shutcm.edu.cn.
4 Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China; School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: doctoryaofei@163.com.
Conference/Journal: Respir Med
Date published: 2025 Feb 14
Other:
Pages: 107997 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.rmed.2025.107997. , Word Count: 274
Background:
Traditional Chinese exercise (TCE) has been shown effective for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, there are no studies investigating the effect of traditional Chinese exercise (TCE) programme on COPD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of specific TCE programme on the pulmonary function in patients with COPD.
Methods:
76 patients with COPD was randomly assigned to receive either TCE group or control group in a 1:1 ratio. The primary outcome was changes in forced vital capacity (FVC) from baseline to 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes included forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), tidal volume (VT), inspiratory capacity (IC), expiratory reserve volume (ERV), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow (PEF), the 6-minute walking test (6MWT), the COPD Assessment Test (CAT), the Short Form 36-item Health Survey (SF-36), modified medical research council scale (mMRC).
Results:
After 12 weeks, the TCE group demonstrated a significantly greater improvement of FVC (-12.67; 95% CI, -18.21 to -7.15; P<0.001) and FEV1 (-9.70; 95% CI, -13.73 to -5.68; P<0.001). But there was no statistically significant difference between groups in FEV1/FVC, PEF, VT, IC or ERV. Besides, patients in the TCE group also reported a statistically significant within-group difference at week 12 in CAT, mMRC and 6MWT. As for eight dimensions of SF-36, patients in TCE group had higher scores in SF-36 (P<0.05 for 8 dimensions).
Conclusion:
Our results demonstrate that the traditional Chinese exercise can serve as an effective therapeutic tool for middle-aged and older patients with COPD.
Trial registration number:
Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2300069283, https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=192116.
Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Randomized controlled trial; Traditional Chinese exercise.
PMID: 39956530 DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2025.107997
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