Journal of Clinical Physiotherapy Research

Abstract

Coughing is the body’s defense mechanism to clear the airways from the foreign bodies and secretions. In patients with neuromuscular disorders or other diseases affecting the airways such as cystic fibrosis (CF), the effectiveness of this defense mechanism is often reduced due to respiratory exhaustion. Some COPD patients have also difficulty in airway clearance.  The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cough assist device in COPD patients. In this study, we randomized 20 COPD patients admitted to the pulmonary ward of Masih Daneshvari hospital (Tehran, Iran) into two groups of routine physiotherapy (including active cycle of breathing technique, pursed-lips breathing, diaphragmatic/abdominal breathing, huffing, and coughing) and routine physiotherapy plus 10 sessions of cough assist, each for 20 minutes. Cough assist pressure was set +5 to +30 cmH2O for inspiration and -8 to -33 for expiration, for 1-3 and 3-5 seconds, respectively. The two groups were then compared regarding the results of 6-minute walk test (distance) and spirometry parameters. The mean age of the patients was 61 ± 4 years. The results of the analysis demonstrated that there was a significant difference between the two groups.