Respiratory Biofeedback in the Rehabilitation of Patients with Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Gianvito Lagravinese, Anna Farella, Giulio Vidotto, Giorgio Castellana, Federico Pasqualotto, Mattia Nese, Mauro Carone, Paolo Taurisano
Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with respiratory impairment, functional limitations, and cognitive and emotional disturbances that may interfere with rehabilitation. This study evaluated the cognitive and mood-related effects of integrating respiratory biofeedback into standard pulmonary rehabilitation. Twenty-eight hospitalized male patients with severe COPD were allocated, using computer-generated randomization, to either standard pulmonary rehabilitation combined with respiratory biofeedback or standard pulmonary rehabilitation alone. The primary outcomes were global cognitive functioning, assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and depressive symptoms, measured using the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D). The biofeedback group showed significantly greater improvements in MoCA scores (mean improvement: 4.71 vs 1.93; p = .022; ANCOVA p = .019) and HADS-D scores (mean improvement: 4.00 vs −0.43; p = .016; ANCOVA p = .001). Respiratory-related quality of life showed a favorable trend, whereas anxiety did not differ between groups. Respiratory biofeedback may therefore be an effective component of a multidimensional rehabilitation approach.
Keywords
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Respiratory Biofeedback; Pulmonary rehabilitation; Cognition; Depression.
