BACKGROUND: According to the respiratory societies, it is recommended to include upper limbs muscle strengthening in pulmonary rehabilitation. However, the modalities are not defined. The objective of this study is to compare the effects of upper limb strength training (F) versus upper limb endurance training (E) on dyspnea in COPD patients undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation. METHOD: A prospective randomized pilot study included COPD patients admitted to the pulmonary rehabilitation unit of the Morlaix Hospital Centre for 4 weeks. Patients in group F underwent upper limb strength training and patients in group E upper limb endurance training, 5 days a week. The effects of the mode of training on dyspnea, shoulder abduction strength and upper limb exercise capacity were evaluated. RESULTS: Ten patients were included in this study. Patients in group F showed greater decrease in dyspnea on the LCADL questionnaire (-5.5 (-7.5 to 1.8) versus 0.5 (-5.3 to 4.3)) and greater improvement in abduction strength (right 48 (-92 to 96); left 21 (-110 to 74) versus right 10.5 (-38 to 76.8); left 4.5 (-34 to 53.5)) than group E, although the difference between the 2 groups was not significant. Improvement in upper limb exercise capacity was greater in group E (8.5 (-3.8 to 45.8) versus -2.5 (-15 to 29.5)), although the difference between the 2 groups was not significant. CONCLUSION: Upper limb strength training seems more beneficial in decreasing dyspnea and increasing strength than upper limb endurance training in pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD patients. These results must be confirmed by a study of bigger sample size. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

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