title: Acu-TENS Reduces Breathlessness during Exercise in People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
abstract: Background.Exertional dyspnoea limits level of physical activity in people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This randomized, double-blinded, crossover study evaluated the effect of Acu-TENS, application of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on acupoints, on breathlessness during exercise in people with COPD.Methods.Twenty-one participants, mean% predicted FEV150 ± 21%, attended assessment followed by two intervention days, one week apart. On each intervention day, participants performed two endurance shuttle walk tests (ESWT) (Walk 1 and Walk 2). Walk 1 was performed without intervention and Walk 2 was performed with either Acu-TENS or Sham-TENS, in random order, for 45 minutes before and during Walk 2. Duration of each ESWT and dyspnoea score at isotime of Walk 1 and Walk 2 on each intervention day were compared. Between-group differences in ESWT duration and isotime dyspnoea were also compared.Results.At isotime of Walk 1 and Walk 2, Acu-TENS showed significant reduction in dyspnoea of -0.8 point (95% CI -0.2 to -1.4) but not in Sham-TENS [0.1 point (95% CI -0.4 to 0.6)]. Compared to Sham-TENS, Acu-TENS showed significant reduction in dyspnoea of -0.9 point (95% CI -0.2 to -1.6) while no between-group significance was found in ESWT duration.Conclusion.Acu-TENS alleviated dyspnoea during walking in people with COPD but did not increase walking duration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Shirley P C
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Ngai
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Lissa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Physiotherapy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Alice Y M
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Physiotherapy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2011-4756
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Alison