Cognitive and Physical Training in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients

Eight weeks of home-based physical exercise training. Aerobic training will be performed 5 times per week using a foot peddler for a minimum of 30 minutes at a moderate intensity (Borg Exertion Scale: between 4 and 6; pedaling speed: 50 RPM). Strength training will be performed 2 times per week, with 1-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions per exercise. Strength exercises will include training with resistance bands and bodyweight exercises. Participants will be instructed to reduce the intensity of their training if they reach a score of 7 on the Borg Exertion Scale, if oxygen saturation is less than 85%, or if they experience any symptoms. Exercise prescriptions will be developed and monitored by an exercise professional with weekly follow-up meetings and supported with a web application (Physiotec) that allows customizable exercise prescriptions, tracking of exercise completion, and video tutorials.

Eight weeks of home-based cognitive and physical training. Cognitive training sessions will be performed 5 times per week using the Brain HQ platform (Posit Science; San Francisco, CA, USA) and will have a duration of approximately 60 minutes. The cognitive training program will be tailored by using the Personal Trainer function which presents an automated sequence of exercise levels to participants based on selected exercises. Participants will have identical sessions initially, but schedules will diverge as participants progress and as the algorithm considers their individual performance history. The Personal Trainer program will be customized to the abilities of each user and will include a focus on the following domains: sustained attention, executive function, short and long-term memory, and anxiety and depression. Participants in this group will also engage in the same exercise training intervention as participants in the Physical Training group.