Music During Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Patients With COPD

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are encouraged to undertake exercise training as part of their treatment. However, they often find themselves limited by breathlessness and tiredness in their legs. These barriers limit how much a person may benefit from an exercise program and how well they may keep up with a recommended schedule of exercise at home. One way of reducing feelings of breathlessness and leg tiredness is by listening to music during exercise.

The impact of adding music to exercise versus exercise alone has not been explored in the setting of pulmonary rehabilitation. This study is aimed at determining the effect of listening to music during exercise sessions on exercise capacity, symptom severity, quality of life and motivation to exercise.

People with COPD will be randomly allocated to exercise plus music or exercise alone. A music therapist will aid with music selection for the exercise plus music group and the music will be loaded onto a portable device that participants will listen to with earbuds. All participants will complete assessments before starting a pulmonary rehabilitation program, at the end of the 8-10 week program and 6 months following completion of the program. They will complete walking tests, report symptom severity and complete a series of questionnaires asking about their quality of life, symptoms and keenness to exercise.

Inclusion criteria

• Medical diagnosis of COPD (physician diagnosis and spirometry with FEV1/FVC ratio <70) and smoking history of greater than 10 pack years
• Stable clinical state, with no acute exacerbations over the last 6 weeks
• Referred to pulmonary rehabilitation program

Exclusion criteria

• Predominant diagnosis other than COPD (asthma, bronchiectasis, interstitial lung disease)
• Co-morbidities (orthopaedic, neurological, cardiac) which might prevent safe exercise training
• Substantial hearing difficulties (inability to hear music adequately)
• Regularly uses music when exercising