Impairment and characteristics of postural control sub-components in people with COPD: a scoping review

Abstract

Purpose

Impairment of postural control is common in people with COPD. However, the precise characteristics of this alteration are not clearly known. The “Systems Framework for Postural Control” which define postural control sub-components, represents an interesting tool to explore this field. The main aim of this review was to identify which postural control sub-components are impaired in people with COPD and to summarise characteristics for each sub-component. A secondary aim was to precise the relation between postural control and activities of daily living (ADL).

Materials and methods

A scoping review was conducted, according to the JBI methodology. Medline, Cochrane Library, Scielo, Google Scholar, OpenGrey, and HAL were searched from inception to May 2022. The search was performed in English and French.

Results

Eighty-nine articles were included. There was evidence of a potential impairment for most of the postural control sub-components. Characteristics of every sub-component alteration were heterogeneous. Reduced postural control could be associated with difficulties in ADL.

Conclusions

People with COPD may have impairment in a wide range of postural control sub-components. Further research is needed to clarify if a common pattern of modification exits for this alteration and to precise the link with ADL.

Implications for rehabilitation

• Impairment of postural control is a common extra-respiratory manifestation in people with COPD and so clinicians must include it in their clinical reasoning.

• Numerous postural control sub-components could be altered in people with COPD, suggesting that postural control assessment must be holistic.

• This scoping review shows that characteristics of postural control impairment are varied and that there may be no common pattern at the COPD population level.

• The relationship between impaired postural control and activities of daily living remains unclear, but clinicians should be alert to potential negative interactions between these two areas.

Keywords:

• Activities of daily living
• balance
• COPD
• postural control
• rehabilitation
• scoping review

Acknowledgments

Olivier Honoré, librarian at IFPEK Rennes, for his support in literature search strategy development. Dr. Karim Jamal, researcher, and physiotherapist, for his expert input on literature review and postural control.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Olivier Van Hove’s research is supported by the “Fonds Erasme”.