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Nutritional supplementation for stable chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseFerreira I, Brooks D, Lacasse Y, Goldstein R, White J
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SummaryNutritional supplementation for stable chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseLow body weight is common in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It can impair their heart and lung function and reduce their ability to exercise and recover. Some degree of malnutrition is common in people with COPD but it is unclear whether this is the cause of their deterioration, or just part of the progress of the disease. The review of trials found no evidence that simple nutritional supplementation makes a significant difference to people with COPD. More research is needed.
This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010 Issue 1, Copyright © 2010 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).
This version first published online:
July 24. 2000 AbstractBackgroundLow body weight in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with an impaired pulmonary status, reduced diaphragmatic mass, lower exercise capacity and higher mortality rate when compared to adequately nourished individuals with this disease. Nutritional support may therefore be a useful part of their comprehensive care. ObjectivesTo conduct a systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to clarify whether nutritional supplementation (caloric supplementation for at least 2 weeks) improved anthropometric measures, pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength and functional exercise capacity in patients with stable COPD. Search strategyRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified from the Cochrane Airways Group register of RCTs, a hand-search of abstracts presented at international meetings and consultation with experts. Searches are current as of June 2006. Selection criteriaTwo reviewers independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed quality and extracted the data. Data collection and analysisWithin each trial and for each outcome, we calculated an effect size. The effect sizes were then pooled by a random-effects model. Homogeneity among the effect sizes was also tested. Main resultsFourteen studies recruiting 487 participants met the inclusion criteria. Nine papers were considered as high quality. Two studies were double-blinded. For each of the outcomes studied, the effect of nutritional support was small: the 95% confidence intervals around the pooled effect sizes all included zero. The effect of nutritional support was homogeneous across studies. Authors' conclusionsNutritional support had no significant effect on anthropometric measures, lung function or exercise capacity in patients with stable COPD. Although some quality of life indices gave significant findings, these results were from a single small unblinded study and restricted to certain domains of health status measurements. More work in this particular area is needed to establish whether supplementation can lead to subjective benefits in quality of life. |