The Effectiveness of Dual-task Exercises in Individuals With COPD

Central nervous system dysfunction is an extrapulmonary complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Brain functions, particularly frontal lobe functions, have been shown to be impaired as a result of COPD. Studies have shown that patients with COPD have impaired ability to perform complex multitasking, such as driving or walking, along with a cognitive task. It has also been reported that the time to complete a functional test with a cognitive task is prolonged in patients with COPD. For many activities of daily life, it is very important to perform multiple tasks at the same time (such as maintaining balance with a cognitive task) in patients with COPD. Studies evaluating dual-task performance in COPD patients are limited. Since this is an important clinical issue, the reversibility of this situation should also be investigated. In addition, considering the positive effects of pulmonary rehabilitation on cognitive functions such as planning, selective attention and verbal memory, additional dual-task exercises may be an appropriate treatment method and increase the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation and the quality of life of patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of dual-task performance on motor and cognitive functions in COPD and to determine the effect of dual-task exercises given together with the pulmonary rehabilitation program on cardiopulmonary and musculoskeletal parameters. The research will be carried out at the University of Health Sciences Süreyyapaşa Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital between June 2023 and November 2024. Patients with a diagnosis of COPD who were admitted to Pulmonary Rehabilitation, met the inclusion criteria, and voluntarily agreed to participate in the study will be included. Demographic information (age, occupation, height, body weight, etc.), clinical status (duration of diagnosis, disease severity), medical conditions, exacerbations and hospitalizations of all participants will be recorded. COPD Assessment Test (CAT) will be administered, and dyspnea evaluation will be made with the Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (mMRC). Mini-Mental State Examination and Frontal Assessment Battery will be used in the cognitive status evaluation of the patients. For balance evaluation, it will be done with Mini-BESTest: Balance Evaluation Systems Test. Functional balance and mobility assessment will be made with the Timed Up and Go Test and the 10-meter Walk Test, and the tests will be applied twice as both a single task (normal walking) and a dual task (walking and cognitive task). 6 Minute Walk Test will be used in functional capacity evaluation. Quality of life will be assessed with St. George\'s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). In addition, the results of the Pulmonary Function Test performed during the routine controls of the patients will be taken. Patients will be randomly divided into 2 groups (Pulmonary Rehabilitation Group, Dual Task Exercises Group). Evaluations will be repeated at the end of the 8-week exercise program. Dual-task performances of healthy individuals with similar demographic characteristics in COPD patients will be compared. For this, the demographic information of healthy volunteers will be recorded, and the Timed Up and Go Test, which will be done as a dual task and a single task, and the 10-meter Walk Test will be evaluated. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) (SPSS Inc, IBM Corp, Armonk, New York) statistical program will be used in the classification of the data to be obtained in the research, using qualitative and quantitative statistical methods. With the values in the 95% confidence interval, the significance will be evaluated at the p\<0.05 level. In the examination of the variables, appropriate statistical tests will be applied depending on the provision of the parametric test conditions.