Surveying the Effect of Inspiratory Muscle Training on Quality of Life in COPD Patients

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) obviously disturbs quality of life by reducing exercise tolerance، dyspnea and fatigue. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of inspiratory muscle training on improving the quality of life in COPD patients. This randomized controlled trial consisted of 30 patients (27 males، 3 females) with mild to very severe COPD referred to the specialist pulmonary clinic. The patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. Training was performed with respivol flow-volumetric inspiratory exerciser. The IMT group trained 8 weeks (21 minutes/day for 6 days/week). The quality of life was evaluated by St George questionnaire at the beginning and end of 8 weeks of inspiratory muscle training. At the end of training، a significant improvement in total score of quality of life was observed in IMT group versus control group (P<0. 001). The 3 dimensions of quality of life include: activity (P<0. 001) symptom (P=0. 001) and impact (P<0. 001) showed statistically significant improvement in comparison with control group. The findings of this study demonstrate that inspiratory muscle training has beneficial effects on quality of life in COPD patients.