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Pretreatment with inhaled procaterol improves symptoms of dyspnea and quality of life in patients with severe COPD Full Text
International Journal of General Medicine, 06/20/2012
Clinical Article
Ohbayashi H et al. – Use of supplementary inhaled procaterol before performing daily activities improved dyspnea symptoms in subjects with Stage III COPD.
Methods- Thirty outpatients with moderate to severe COPD (Stage II–IV) regularly using inhaled tiotropium bromide alone and with dyspnea during daily activities were enrolled.
- Subjects self–administered 20 µg of inhaled procaterol before daily activities no more than four times daily.
- Dyspnea symptom scores, St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) activity domains, impulse oscillometry system parameters, and pulmonary function tests were recorded at the beginning and end of the 2–week study.
- At baseline, more than 80% of subjects reported dyspnea when walking up a slope (100.0%), climbing stairs (100.0%), gardening (93.3%), walking on flat ground (90.0%), bathing (86.7%), getting on a bus or train (83.3%), and changing clothes (80.0%).
- After 2 weeks, subjects with Stage III symptoms had significantly improved dyspnea scores on walking up a slope (P = 0.047), climbing stairs (P = 0.014), gardening (P = 0.034), walking on flat ground (P = 0.006), getting on a bus or train (P = 0.039), and changing clothes (P = 0.045).
- Both symptom and activity SGRQ domains improved significantly in subjects with Stage III symptoms (P = 0.036 and P = 0.028, respectively).
- Resistance of small airways and low–frequency reactance area values improved significantly in subjects with Stage III symptoms (P = 0.003 and P = 0.004, respectively).
- No significant changes were found in pulmonary function tests.