Dosed walking as an effective method of rehabilitation of patients with a combination of arterial hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND. Hypodynamia is an important risk factor for the development of many diseases, and a sedentary lifestyle leads to aggravation of cardiovascular and respiratory pathology. The most accessible and effective method of physical rehabilitation for patients with cardiovascular and broncho-obstructive pathology at home, as well as safe in terms of orthopedic risk and the risk of cardiovascular complications, is dosed walking. However, studies devoted to the study of the effectiveness of blood pressure control, quality of life in comorbid patients using regular physical training, in particular, dosed walking, are currently few in number.

OBJECTIVE. To study the effect of dosed walking in addition to standard treatment in patients with hypertension and COPD on achieving blood pressure control.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. A total of 85 patients diagnosed with stage 2 hypertension, grade 1-2, risk III (high), COPD GOLD 2, group B were examined. The average age of the patients was (67.90 ± 1.06) years. In addition to drug therapy, dosed walking was added to the patients of group A. Patients of group B received drug therapy only. All patients underwent clinical, laboratory and instrumental examination methods in accordance with clinical recommendations, as well as a daily study of blood pressure indicators, depressive disorders were assessed using the Beck scale and quality of life indicators using the SF-36 questionnaire at the beginning of treatment, after 6 weeks and 6 months.

RESULTS. With the systematic use of physical rehabilitation methods (dosed walking) for patients with hypertension and COPD in addition to standard drug therapy, a more effective reduction in the frequency of complaints, improvement in quality of life, normalization of blood pressure, heart rate, lipid profile, and a decrease in the frequency of depression are observed. In the group of patients performing physical training, the long-term results confirmed the highest effectiveness of the treatment, with 91.1 % of patients achieving the target blood pressure level. Higher adherence to the therapy was also noted, with 93.3 % of patients continuing to perform physical training.

CONCLUSION. It is advisable to include dosed walking in the medical rehabilitation program of comorbid patients in addition to standard drug therapy in order to achieve blood pressure control, improve quality of life and increase patient adherence to regular antihypertensive therapy.