Effect of Liuzijue exercise in stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease：A systematic review and meta-analysis

IntroductionChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive respiratory illness that is characterized by aggravating respiratory symptoms and airflow obstruction with high morbidity and mortality. This meta-analysis was strictly focused on the the influence of Liuzijue exercise in stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.MethodsSix electronic databases including EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chinese Biomedical Database and Wanfang Database were searched for eligible papers focusing on Liuzijue exercise in stable COPD patients. The effective outcomes included pulmonary function, 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), St.George respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test (CAT). Stata and Review Manager software were used for data analysis.ResultsTwenty-six randomized controlled trials including 1841 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis indicated that Liuzijue exercise revealed well efficacy in improving exercise capacity, pulmonary function and quality of life on 6MWD (MD=33.44, 95% Cl(23.95, 42.92), P<0.00001), forced expiratory volume in 1second (MD=0.16, 95% Cl(0.08, 0.24), P<0.0001), forced expiratory volume in one second/predicted value ratio (MD=6.64, 95% Cl(3.13, 10.14), P=0.0002), the ratio of forced expiratory volume in the first second to forced vital capacity (MD=4.92, 95% Cl(2.26, 7.58), P<0.00001), SGRQ(MD=-13.40, 95% Cl(-17.66, -9.13), P<0.00001) and CAT (MD=-2.59, 95% Cl(-3.58, -1.61), P<0.00001).ConclusionsLiuzijue exercise could improve exercise capacity, pulmonary function, and quality of life for stable patients with COPD.