BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) causes an obstruction to the airflow of the lungs, causing coughing, mucus, and difficulty breathing. It has a high morbidity and mortality with a prevalence of 10.3% worldwide. The use of diaphragmatic training in these patients has recently been suggested. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to examine the available evidence on the effectiveness of diaphragm training on FEV1, 6-minute walk test, oxygen saturation, inspiratory time, expiratory time and COPD survival scale (BODE). Materials and METHODS: A systematic review was carried out following the PRISMA regulations. RESULTS: The results showed that diaphragm training is effective in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to improve FEV1. CONCLUSIONS: 6-minute walk test and oxygen saturation; however, it is not effective for the variables inspiratory time, expiratory time and the COPD survival scale (BODE).

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