Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
Arch Med Sci. 2012 May 9;8(2):296-302. doi: 10.5114/aoms.2012.28557.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) have some systemic effects including systemic inflammation, nutritional abnormalities, skeletal muscle dysfunction, and cardiovascular, skeletal and neurological disorders. Some studies have reported the presence of peripheral neuropathy (PNP) at an incidence of 28-94% in patients with COPD. Our study aimed to identify whether PNP affects exercise performance and quality of life in COPD patients.
Thirty mild-very severe patients with COPD (male/female = 29/1, mean age = 64 ±10 years) and 14 normal subjects (male/female = 11/5, mean age = 61 ±8 years) were included in the present study. All subjects underwent pulmonary function testing (PFT), cardiopulmonary exercise testing, electroneuromyography and short form 36 (SF-36).
Peak oxygen uptake (PeakVO(2)) was lower in COPD patients (1.15 ±0.53 l/min) than healthy subjects (2.02 ±0.46 l/min) (p = 0.0001). There was no PNP in healthy subjects while 16 (53%) of the COPD patients had PNP. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) and PeakVO(2) were significantly different between patients with PNP and those without (p = 0.009, p = 0.03 respectively). Quality of life of patients with PNP was lower than that of patients without PNP (p < 0.05).
The present study demonstrates the exercise limitation in COPD patients with PNP. Thus, presence of PNP has a poor effect on exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with COPD. Furthermore, treatment modalities for PNP can be recommended to these patients in order to improve exercise capacity and quality of life.
慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）具有一些全身性影响，包括全身炎症、营养异常、骨骼肌功能障碍以及心血管、骨骼和神经系统疾病。一些研究报告称，COPD 患者周围神经病变（PNP）的发病率为 28-94％。我们的研究旨在确定 PNP 是否会影响 COPD 患者的运动表现和生活质量。
本研究纳入了 30 名轻度至重度 COPD 患者（男/女=29/1，平均年龄=64±10 岁）和 14 名正常对照者（男/女=11/5，平均年龄=61±8 岁）。所有受试者均接受了肺功能测试（PFT）、心肺运动测试、肌电图和 36 项简短健康调查问卷（SF-36）。
COPD 患者的峰值摄氧量（PeakVO2）（1.15±0.53 l/min）明显低于健康对照者（2.02±0.46 l/min）（p=0.0001）。健康对照者中没有 PNP，而 16 名（53％）COPD 患者患有 PNP。有 PNP 的 COPD 患者的 1 秒用力呼气量（FEV1）和 PeakVO2 与无 PNP 的患者之间存在显著差异（p=0.009，p=0.03）。患有 PNP 的患者的生活质量明显低于没有 PNP 的患者（p<0.05）。
本研究表明 PNP 会导致 COPD 患者运动受限。因此，PNP 的存在会对 COPD 患者的运动能力和生活质量产生不良影响。此外，可向这些患者推荐治疗 PNP 的方法，以改善其运动能力和生活质量。
