THE EFFECT OF A PERSONALIZED PHYSICAL THERAPY PROGRAM ON THE FUNCTIONAL STATUS OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading global cause of morbidity and mortality, characterized by progressive ventilation disorders and reduced exercise tolerance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a customized physical therapy program on the functional status of the respiratory system in patients with stage II-III COPD. Materials and Methods The study involved 30 patients (45–70 years old, 18 males and 12 females) hospitalized in the therapeutic department of Ivano-Frankivsk City Clinical Hospital No1. The sample was formed by analyzing medical records, excluding patients with stage I COPD. Spirometry was used to measure respiratory function parameters, including forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1, % predicted), tidal volume (TV), vital capacity (VC, % predicted), minute ventilation (MV), and respiratory rate (RR). The 31-day physical therapy program incorporated a comprehensive approach: therapeutic physical exercises (25–30 minutes daily), breathing exercises based on the Buteyko method (shallow breathing with pauses) and the Strelnikova method (three sets of 32 sharp inhalations daily) as additional local techniques, physiotherapy procedures (electrophoresis, magnetotherapy), and Decasan inhalations (10 days). Statistical analysis was performed using the paired Student's t-test (after confirming normality with the Shapiro-Wilk test) to assess the significance of changes (p<0.05). The results demonstrated statistically significant improvements in all measured spirometric parameters post-intervention: RR decreased from 22.2±1.30 to 18.3±1.50 breaths·min^-1 (p<0.05), TV increased from 415.12±14.700 to 526.64±19.10  mL (p<0.001), VC incresed from 65.6±7.13% to 75.04±12.700% (p<0.05), MV increased from 9.215±0.0645 to 9.637±0.0447 L·min^-1 (p<0.05) and FEV1 improved from 48.8±5.51% to 61.0±8.96% (p<0.05). Conclusions. The most pronounced effect was observed for tidal volume, highlighting the efficacy of breathing exercises. The findings confirm that the proposed physical therapy program, supplemented with local methods, significantly enhances ventilatory function, reduces dyspnea, and improves exercise tolerance in COPD patients, aligning with GOLD-2025 guidelines and offering substantial clinical benefits for their rehabilitation and quality of life.