TY - JOUR T1 - Clinical assessment of balance and functional impairments in people with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis JF - ERJ Open Research JO - erjor DO - 10.1183/23120541.00164-2022 SP - 00164-2022 AU - Rodrigo Núñez-Cortés AU - Paloma Padilla-Acevedo AU - Franchesca Vergara-Peña AU - Sara Mollà-Casanova AU - Claudia Espinoza-Bravo AU - Rodrigo Torres-Castro AU - Carlos Cruz-Montecinos Y1 - 2022/01/01 UR - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2022/09/22/23120541.00164-2022.abstract N2 - The objective of this study is to compare the balance and functional capacity between stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients versus healthy controls using clinical tests. A comprehensive search of PubMed/MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, and Web of Science was conducted from inception to 21 January 2022. Studies reporting the association between COPD status and balance or functional capacity using clinical tests were included. Two independent reviewers examined the titles and abstracts, extracted the data using a standardised form, and assessed the risk of bias of the included articles. A total of 27 studies with 2420 individuals with stable COPD were included. Overall, the risk of bias in the included studies was low to moderate. The meta-analysis showed a higher history of falls in individuals with COPD (Odds Ratio: 1.59 [95%CI: 1.25–2.02]). Furthermore, an overall effect in favour of the healthy controls was observed in the Timed Up and Go (mean difference: 2.61 s [95%CI: 1.79–3.43]), Berg Balance Scale (mean difference: −6.57 points [95%CI: −8.31 to −4.83]), static balance tests (standardised mean difference: −1.36 [95%CI: −2.10 to −0.62]), and the 6-minute walk test (mean difference: −148.21 meters [95%CI: −219.37 to −77.39]). In conclusion, individuals with stable COPD have worse balance and functional capacity compared to healthy controls. These results may guide clinicians to elaborate on therapeutic strategies focused on screening of balance and functional impairments. This is in addition to generating rehabilitation guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of falling in people with COPD.FootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.Conflict of interest: Andrea Lombardi reports the following relationships outside the submitted work; personal fees received from Insmed Italia for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events; personal fees from Gilead Science lc for attending meetings.Conflict of interest: Rodrigo Núñez-Cortés has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Paloma Padilla-Acevedo has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Franchesca Vergara-Peña has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Sara Mollà-Casanova has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Claudia Espinoza-Bravo has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Rodrigo Torres-Castro has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Carlos Cruz-Montecinos has nothing to disclose. ER -