Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of specialized physiotherapy methods measured by the BODE index in patients with COPD during hospitalization.
Material and methods: The study was conducted on a group of 30 patients diagnosed with COPD, all under treatment at the clinical hospital in Wroclaw due to the exacerbation of their symptoms. All patients were undergoing standard pharmacological treatment along with basic physiotherapy. The subjects of the study were randomly divided between an experimental group of 20 persons and a control group of 10 persons. Patients in the experimental group underwent a series of 6 additional massage treatments performed over a period of a few days, aimed at reshaping the following muscles: the sterno-cleidomastoid, pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, trapezius, levator scapulae, rhomboids and serratus anterior. Each massage lasted for 30 minutes and consisted of stroking, grinding, vibration and kneading techniques. Before and after therapy the patients were assessed based on the BODE index. First, the patient's BMI was calculated (B). Airflow obstruction (O) was determined by the percentage value of FEV1 while the MRC scale was used to evaluate a patient's dyspnea (D). Exercise capacity (E) was measured by the distance a patient could cover in a 6-minute walk test. Each variable of the BODE index was ranked on a scale from 0 to 3 points except the BMI, for which was given either 0 or 1 point.
Results: Analysis of the results showed a significant improvement of the BODE index in the experimental group while in the control group this ratio changed slightly. The FEV1 and MRC parameters changed significantly only in the experimental group.
Conclusions: After a week of therapy the BODE index improved in both groups, but in the experimental group there was a significantly higher difference. In the experimental group all BODE components except BMI improved highly significantly, whereas in the control group only exercise capacity was significantly improved.