The effect of interval exercises on heart rate variability in hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

The effect of different interval training protocols on the clinical and cardiorespiratory index in patients with COPD

A controlled, parallel-group, double-blind, randomized, phase 2 clinical trial on 48 patients.

This study is conducted as a clinical trial on patients with COPD referred to Masih Deneshvari Hospital in Tehran. Patients who meet the inclusion criteria will be placed in one of the three study groups after providing full explanations and signing a written consent form.

Inclusion Criteria: COPD patients in Grades 2, 3, and 4, age over 18 years. Exclusion criteria: Patient dissatisfaction to participate in the study, underlying diseases such as diabetes, nervous system diseases affecting cardiac rhythm

In the first intervention group, after warming up, the patients perform 30 seconds of activity with an intensity of 85% of the maximum oxygen peak, then they perform 30 seconds of recovery with 40% of the maximum oxygen peak. Patients will have 4 minutes of passive recovery after doing 8 sets. After 4 minutes of recovery, they will perform the same as above for another 8 minutes. After finishing the activity, the patients will perform cooling movements for 5 minutes. The second group also performs peak oxygen for 4 minutes with 85% intensity after 5 minutes of warming up. Then they perform 3 minutes of recovery with 40% of the maximum oxygen peak. Patients perform this protocol in 3 sets for 21 minutes. The third group (control group) received only routine treatments and did not receive any exercise intervention. The total duration of the rehabilitation process will be 2 weeks.

Six-minute walk test distance, resting oxygen saturation, anaerobic threshold VO2, maximum heart rate, maximum VO2, SDRR, RMSSD, HF, LF, LF/HF

Simple randomization method, individual randomization unit and random number table randomization tool. For randomization, we use a table consisting of random digits from 0 to 9. Each of the figures in this table is repeated the same on average. We start from the first row of the table and move down row by row. For three treatments, we put numbers 1 to 3 for treatment A, numbers 4 to 6 for treatment B, and numbers 7 to 9 for treatment C. We continue the above process until three groups are completed.

In order to prevent any possible complications, the doctor and clinical caregiver are fully aware of the assignment of treatment groups. Researchers responsible for data collection and analysis are not aware of the allocation of different study groups.