* With over 3.2 million fatalities worldwide, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is considered the third most common cause of mortality and a potentially fatal illness.
* Due to anomalies in the lung architecture, COPD is characterised by a variety of respiratory symptoms.
* Cognitive impairment (CI) is one of the problems caused by COPD that extends beyond the respiratory system.
* The quality of life, treatment compliance, and declines in the condition of COPD patients were all negatively impacted by CI.
* As of right now, no intervention has been promised to improve CI in patients with COPD.
Objective:
To find out how well non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), a novel technique, affects cognitive performance in COPD patients
Methods:
* Both the participants and the outcome assessor will be in a double-blind RCT.
* King Fahad University Hospital will be the source of the entirely voluntary participants.
* The IRB of the Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal institutions accepted the study protocol.
* Following an evaluation using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (MoCA), participants will be divided into four groups based on GOLD: mild GOLD 1, moderate GOLD 2, severe GOLD 3, and very severe GOLD 4.
* For three weeks, both groups will participate in five NIBS sessions per week. While the control group will receive sham brain stimulation, the experimental group will receive active brain stimulation.
* Both groups will undergo the evaluation before and after the treatment sessions.
* Primary outcome measurements are battery cognition tests; secondary measures include ABGs, ultrasonography, and cardiopulmonary exercise tests.
* Independent t-tests will be applied to evaluate the differences between the two groups.
* The study will use a two-way repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to determine the intervention's efficacy.
* The association between the improvement of cognitive function and certain factors will be ascertained via the Pearson correlation coefficient.
* The significance level will be set at a p-value of less than 0.05.
Significant:
* We hope that the findings of this study will serve as a helpful guide when deciding how to improve CI in patients with COPD and enhance the treatment strategy for this group.
* The findings of this study will investigate whether NIBS, which is beneficial in another population, can enhance cognitive function in individuals with COPD.
