“Physical therapy in COPD: effects on exacerbations and influence of comorbidity”

Keywords: COPD, treatment, physiotherapy

This dissertation found physiotherapy to be the most important intervention for COPD patients. Despite encountering several obstacles in the original research design, it can be concluded that the treatment group experienced significantly fewer, shorter, and less severe exacerbations than the control group. Other results included lower costs for society and better quality of life for COPD patients. Interestingly, 90% of COPD patients also suffer from one or more non-related diseases. This study also described the effects of secondary disorders on the treatment provided by physiotherapists and the condition of the patients.