TY - JOUR T1 - Static and dynamic balance in patients with COPD: Comparison with healthy subjects and differences according to gender and disease severity JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 42 IS - Suppl 57 SP - P3159 AU - Lais R.G. Ribeiro AU - Josiane M. Felcar AU - Myriam Fernanda Merli AU - Rafael Mesquita AU - Débora Rafaelli Carvalho AU - Denilson C. Teixeira AU - Karen B.P. Fernandes AU - Rubens A. Silva AU - Vanessa Suziane Probst Y1 - 2013/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P3159.abstract N2 - Background: It has been suggested that patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have worse balance when compared to healthy elderly. It remains unknown, however, whether there are differences in balance according to gender and the different degrees of disease severity. Aim: We aim to compare static and dynamic balance between COPD patients and healthy subjects and to verify if there are differences in these outcomes between men and women, as well as among patients with different degrees of disease severity. Methods: 27 patients with COPD and 25 healthy elderly had their static balance evaluated by the force plate (variable: COP Area) and dynamic balance by the Timed Up an Go test (TUG). Subjects with COPD were also evaluated according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and the Body-Mass Index, Airflow Obstruction, Dyspnea, and Exercise Capacity (BODE) classification. Results: When compared to the healthy elderly, patients with COPD presented worse static (12,5[8,8-17,9] vs.10,1[9,4-13,6] cm2, respectively; P=0,03) and dynamic balance (10[9-11] vs. 8[7-9] s, respectively; P=0,0001). Men with COPD had worse static balance than women (16,8[11,8-18,9] vs. 11,1[8,5-13,4] cm2, respectively; P=0,01). However, there were no differences in balance among the different degrees of disease severity according to the GOLD and BODE classification. Conclusion: Patients with COPD present worse static and dynamic balance when compared to healthy subjects. Moreover, balance in subjects with COPD is more affected in men and seems not to be different according to the degrees of disease severity. ER -