Correlating the Upper Limb Muscle Strength and Endurance with the Severity of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients the skeletal muscle impairment leads to easy fatigability of their skeletal muscles. COPD patients have reduced ability to sustain repetitive muscular contractions and that their muscles fatigue rapidly compared to healthy people. Easy fatigability of their skeletal muscles is one of the major limiting factors in doing day-to-day activities in patients suffering from COPD. Most of the studies assessed the lower limb muscle strength and endurance in COPD patients. Only few studies compared the upper limb muscle strength in COPD patients. Upper limb muscle is equally important in day-to-day activities like combing, driving, writing etc. The aim of our study is to correlate the upper limb muscle strength, endurance in COPD patients of different severity in the age group between 40–60 years. This study is a cross sectional study and was carried out among 60 subjects in two groups with 30 in each group, Group A as controls and Group B with COPD patients. Muscle strength and endurance were assessed in the flexor muscles of dominant forearm of both groups by using Mosso's ergograph and the point of fatigability was confirmed by continuous

E.M.G recordings. In the end we found that in COPD patients the upper limb muscle strength and endurance were markedly reduced with the increasing severity of COPD.