3. RESULTS
A total of 71 patients with COPD of mean age 64.73 ± 8.16 years and 70
control subjects of mean age 63.07 ± 7.42 years were included in this
study. The subjects included 91.5% (n = 65) men in the COPD group and
92.9% (n = 65) men in the control group (P = 0.772). The BMI of
the subjects in both the groups were similar (P = 0.114).
However, 26.8% (n = 19) of the patients with COPD were active smokers,
while the corresponding rate was 12.9% (n = 9) in the control group.
The COPD group patients smoked more than the control group subjects
(P = 0.004). The COPD patients had lower 6-MWT scores and their
pulmonary function test parameters were worse, but their mMRC, CAT, and
BODE index scores were higher than those of the control subjects
(P < 0.001). In the COPD group, 24 (43.8%) patients
had a fall history in the past year, while 10 (24.3%) subjects in the
control group had a fall history (P = 0.007). The patient
characteristics are illustrated in Table 1.
Based on the balance tests, SLS revealed an balance impairment in 57
(80.3%) of the patients in the COPD group and in 35 (50%) of the
subjects in the control group (P < 0.001).
Significantly shorter times for standing on 1 leg were recorded for the
COPD group than for the control group (P < 0.001). 5STS
test results revealed that 66 (93%) of the patients with COPD and 35
(50%) of the control subjects had balance impairment (P< 0.001). The time for finishing the test was significantly
longer for the patients with COPD than for the control subjects
(P < 0.001). In FSST, balance impairment was detected
in 49 (69%) patients with COPD and in 30 control subjects (42.9%)
(P = 0.002). The time for finishing the test was significantly
longer in the COPD group as compared to that in the control group
(P = 0.001). In TUG test, balance impairment was detected in 38
(53.5%) and 23 (32.9%) of the patients with COPD and control subjects,
respectively (P = 0.013). The time for the test was significantly
longer in the COPD group (P= 0.007). The BBS test revealed that 32
(45.1%) and 19 (27.1%) of the patients with COPD and control subjects,
respectively, suffered from balance problems (P = 0.027). The BBS
scores were significantly lower in the COPD group (P = 0.003).
The test results for COPD and control groups are depicted in Table 2.
Based on the weight of the participants, the SLS, FSST, TUG, and BBS
tests detected more balance impairment in the Group C and D patients
with COPD. However, no significant difference was noted in terms of the
5STS results (Table 3). The median values of the 5STS results of Group C
and D patients with COPD were significantly longer than those of Group A
and B patients (P < 0.001). Group C and D patients with
COPD had more cases of falling in the last 1 year in comparison to Group
A and B patients (P < 0.001) (Table 3).
BSS positively correlated with SLS but negatively correlated with 5STS,
FSST, and TUG, however, FSST and TUG had the highest correlation with
BBS (r = −0.812 and −0.842 and P <0.001 and <0.001,
respectively) (Figure 1).
BBS and SLS results showed a negative correlation with age, CAT, mMRC,
and BODE scores, but a positive correlation with FVC (L and %), FEV1 (L
and %), FEV1/FVC, and 6-MWT results. The 5STS, FSST, and TUG test
results showed a positive correlation with age, CAT, mMRC, and BODE
scores, while correlation between the results of FVC (L and %), FEV1 (L
and %), FEV1/FVC, and 6-MWT and the results of 5STS, FSST, and TUG
results was negative (Table 4).