Manual Therapy in Addition to Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

In 2016, the US Congress directed the Department of Defense to initiate a program to improve the health and well-being of all military Veterans, challenging the research and scientific communities to find original ideas that "foster new directions in research and clinical care". One of the areas identified as a priority under this initiative was 'Respiratory Health'. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of disability, hospital admission and premature death. Current management strategies have not been successful in altering the loss of lung function typically seen as the disease progresses. Results from recent pilot trials suggest the novel combination of chiropractic manual therapy (CMT) and pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has the potential to alter the typical pattern of decline in lung function. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of administering this combination of interventions (CMT plus PR) to Veterans with moderate COPD within the context of a hospital-based outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program. Twenty Veterans between the ages of 50 and 70 years with moderate COPD, will be randomly allocated to two equal groups. Group 1: 'sham' manual therapy plus pulmonary rehabilitation program; Group 2: Chiropractic manual therapy group plus the same pulmonary rehabilitation program (CMT+PR). Participants in both groups will undergo 8 treatment sessions over a 4 week period plus an additional assessment session at week 8. All sham manual therapy and CMT will be delivered just prior to pulmonary rehabilitation. The primary purpose of the study is to assess the feasibility of conducting a larger randomized controlled trial by assessing the ability to recruit, enroll, deliver interventions and collect outcome measures on Veterans with moderate COPD. Secondary outcomes include lung function (Forced expiratory volume in the 1st second: FEV1 and Forced vital capacity: FVC), exercise capacity (six-minute walking test: 6MWT), quality of life (St Georges Respiratory Questionnaire: SGRQ), anxiety and depression levels (Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale: HAD) and frequency of exacerbations. All outcome measurements will be taken by blinded assessors. Collecting outcome measurements at 8 weeks (4 weeks after intervention has ceased) will assess the feasibility of getting Veterans to return for follow-up assessments.