Balance impairment in patients with COPD.

ABSTRACT:

Background/purpose

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a respiratory disease that results in progressive airflow limitation and respiratory distress. Physiopathological features of COPD suggest that people who suffer from this disease have many risk factors for falls that have been identified in older individuals. The aim of the study was to compare and quantify functional balance between COPD patients and healthy subjects; to investigate the risk of falls in acute stages of the disease and to identify risk factors that could lead to falls.

Methods

We studied 46 patients with moderate-severe COPD (29 stable and 17 in acute exacerbation--AECOPD) and 17 healthy subjects (control group) having similar demographic data. We analyzed the difference in Berg Balance Scal

SUBMITTER: Crisan AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4358954 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature