Description
For people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), breathing control exercises are an important part of occupational therapy. These exercises may be even more useful when performed in groups. This study investigated the effectiveness of breathing control exercises in groups for patients with severe COPD recovering from an acute lung exacerbation. In this six-week randomized controlled experiment, group breathing exercises were added to a standard inpatient rehabilitation program (usual care) compared to usual care alone. The typical exercise program consisted of strength and endurance training and therapeutic patient education. This 6-week randomized controlled experiment examined the effects of adding group breathing exercises to a typical inpatient rehabilitation program (usual care) compared to care alone. The usual exercise program consisted of strength and endurance training as well as therapeutic patient education. In addition to standard care, the intervention group received twenty sessions of group breathing control exercises, each lasting thirty minutes. People who were admitted to the J. Bracops Hospital in Brussels and had stage III or IV COPD according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).