Sustainability of Pulmonary Rehab Gains

Sustainability of Rehabilitation Gains in COPD

People with moderate to severe COPD trap air in their lungs. This lessens their ability to exercise. The investigators developed a computerized breathing retraining program to help patients empty their lungs during exercise. The investigators believe that learning to control breathing will help patients be more active. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of using breathing retraining (intervention group) versus no breathing retraining (control group) as part of a 12-week exercise program. The investigators are examining the long term effects of this training on exercise capacity and the ability to empty ones lungs during exercise. Patients will participate in a 12-week exercise program, with or without breathing retraining. They will then participate in a 42 week adherence program to maintain physical activity. Patient testing will be competed at baseline, 12 weeks, 6 months and 1 year. 250 patients with moderate to severe COPD will be enrolled.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: COPD
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exercise only; Behavioral: Breathing retraining plus exercise

Detailed Description

Rationale: Development of dynamic hyperinflation is a primary limiting factor of exercise tolerance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To lessen the development of dynamic hyperinflation, and to improve exercise tolerance in COPD patients, the investigators have developed a breathing-retraining technique to be used during pulmonary rehabilitation. This breathing-retraining technique is designed to decrease respiratory rate and prolong exhalation. The investigators demonstrated that, in the short-term, hyperinflation and exercise duration improved more with breathing-retraining plus exercise-training than with exercise-training alone. Because a crucial aspect of pulmonary rehabilitation is the maintenance its short-term benefits over the long-term, the investigators now propose to test whether short-term benefits of breathing-retraining plus exercise followed by an adherence-intervention program are sustainable over the long-term Primary Hypothesis: (H1) In COPD patients, improvements in exercise duration on a constant- load treadmill test will be greater after 12 weeks of breathing-retraining plus exercise-training followed by a 42-week adherence-intervention program (1 yr. total) than after 12 weeks of exercise-training alone followed by a 42-week adherence-intervention program (1 yr. total). Secondary Hypotheses: One year after randomization, exercise-induced dynamic hyperinflation will be less during a constant-load treadmill test (H2), 6-minute walking distance will be longer (H3), and mastery over breathing will be greater (H4) in the breathing-retraining plus exercise-training group than in the exercise-alone group. Lastly (exploratory objective), the investigators will assess the effect of the patient's physiologic, psychologic and clinical phenotype on short- term and long-term responsiveness to pulmonary rehabilitation.

Methods: The proposed study is a randomized, controlled clinical trial in which 250 patients with moderate-to-severe COPD will be enrolled. One hundred forty of these patients are expected to qualify for randomization into the breathing-retraining plus exercise-training group or the exercise-training alone group. Patients will receive 12-weeks of supervised training according to group assignment (three times weekly) followed by an adherence-intervention program (weekly phone motivational interviews, home-exercise program, and monthly laboratory booster sessions). Follow-up testing will be completed at 12 weeks, and at 6 and 12 months. Testing will include pulmonary function test, incremental-load and constant-load treadmill tests, 6-minute walk test, measurements of dyspnea, assessment of respiratory and quadriceps muscle strength and endurance and quadriceps ultrasonography. Analysis: In the principal analysis of the primary outcome measure (exercise duration; H1) the investigators will compare changes in exercise duration (constant work-rate treadmill test) from baseline to end of study using 2-sample t-test (two-tailed =.05). The primary analysis will be based on intention-to-treat principles. Multiple imputation will be used for study subjects missing the 12-month measurement. This imputation model will be based on baseline characteristics of study participants. Several secondary analyses of the primary outcome measure will be performed (H2-H4). Linear regression will be used to determine whether the observed treatment benefits persist after adjustment for baseline covariates and measures of adherence to treatment. Since several measurements will be taken on each patient, mixed-models analysis will be used to compare the changes on the constant-load treadmill test over time between the two groups.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Hines, Illinois, United States, 60141-5000
      • Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 40 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• >/= 40 yrs
• FEV1 </= 70% predicted
• FEV1/FVC <70% predicted
• RV/TLC >/=120%
• SpO2 >/= 90% at peak exercise (with or without exercise)
• inspiratory capacity decline >.15L from rest to peak exercise

Exclusion Criteria:

• respiratory infection/exacerbation within the previous 4 weeks
• exercise limiting heart disease
• primary asthma
• congestive heart failure
• exercise limiting peripheral arterial disease
• stops exercise due to arthritic pain in the knee or hips
• inability to walk on the treadmill
• pregnancy
• methadone use
• any unforeseen illness or disability that would preclude exercise testing or training
• participation in a formal exercise program within the previous 12 weeks

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: exercise; Patients will exercise for 12 weeks and then participate in an adherence program	Behavioral: Exercise only; Patients will participate in a 12-week exercise program . They will also participate in an adherence program.
Experimental: exercise plus breathing retraining; Patients will exercise plus breathing retraining for 12 weeks and then participate in an adherence program	Behavioral: Breathing retraining plus exercise; Patients will participate in a 12-week exercise program with breathing retraining. They will also participate in an adherence program.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Duration of Exercise Time on a Constant Work-rate Treadmill Test	Patients walk on a treadmill set at a constant workrate. The difference in the time walked on the treadmill from baseline to study completion is the primary outcome measure.	52 week test

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Inspiratory Capacity	Inspiratory capacity is measured at a set time during the constant workrate treadmill test. The difference between the inspiratory capacity measured at baseline and 52 weeks is a secondary outcome. Inspiratory capacity measured during exercise is a measure of dynamic hyperinflation.	52 week test
6 Minute Walk Distance	Six-minute walk distance will be measured at 52 weeks. The difference in distance walked in meters between baseline and 52 weeks is the secondary outcome measure. The 6 minute walk is conducted using the guidelines issued by the American Thoracic Society.	52 weeks
Mastery Over Breathing	Mastery over breathing is measured using the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire. Specifically the subscale 'mastery" is the investigators' secondary outcome. The difference in scores from baseline to 52 weeks is the investigators' outcome measure. The Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire is a valid and reliable questionnaire. 1=minimum score, 7=maximum with the higher score indicating greater mastery. A higher score indicates better health. A change of 0.5 indicates a small change, 1.0 indicates a moderate change and greater or equal to a change of 1.5 indicates a large change.	52 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Eileen G. Collins, PhD RN, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 21, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): August 12, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 12, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 12, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): September 16, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 3, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 11, 2019
• Last Verified: September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: exercise; pulmonary rehabilitation; dynamic hyperinflation
• Other Study ID Numbers: O1325-R

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No