Oxygen therapy during exercise training in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

People with COPD often have severe shortness of breath that prevents them from performing their everyday activities. Formal rehabilitation programs that include exercise training improve stamina, decrease breathlessness and enhance quality of life. Use of oxygen during exercise may provide additional benefit. We conducted a review to determine the effectiveness of adding oxygen to exercise training in comparison to exercise training without oxygen supplementation in people with COPD. Five studies addressed the question although, because of measurement of different outcomes, the maximum number available for looking at any individual outcome was three (31 patients receiving oxygen versus 32 not). People with COPD may exercise longer and have less shortness of breath when using oxygen during an exercise-training program. These studies did not look at the effect of oxygen on shortness of breath in daily life. From the evidence to date, it is not possible to determine whether individuals with COPD should use oxygen during exercise training. Stronger studies with more participants are required in order to understand how oxygen-supplemented exercise training for people with COPD will affect their shortness of breath, activity and quality of life.