NCT04028973

Neuromuscular Fatigue in Chronic Obstructive Pulonary Disease

Towards a Better Understanding of Neuromuscular Alterations and Fatigue in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 36 (actual)
• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Toulon La Seyne sur Mer · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Fatigue is a prevalent symptom in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) that limits patients in their daily living activities. It is now well established that COPD patients may have altered neuromuscular functions compared to healthy individuals. However, the different studies conducted on muscle fatigue in COPD have been done independently of any cognitive solicitation, yet present in most of daily living activities. Therefore, the aim of this research is to evaluate the impact of the disease on neuromuscular fatigue during dual-task situation (simultaneous accomplishment of a muscle contraction and a cognitive task). A better understanding of fatigue in COPD will promote the development of new perspectives in patient management. The hypothesis is that COPD patients will exhibit increased fatigue level (compared to healthy subjects), particularly during dual-task situation. It is assumed that the higher negative effect associated with the dual-task will be related to different neurophysiological mechanisms (i.e., neuromuscular fatigue, autonomic nervous system activity, mental fatigue).

Detailed description

This study will include three experimental sessions for both COPD patients and healthy participants. These experimental sessions will be performed on three separate days. Each session will last between 1.5 and 2 hours. The first session will correspond to a familiarization session with the different tests that will be performed during the two next sessions. During this first session, different functional tests will be also performed : 1-minute sit-to-stand tests and postural tests, with and without a concomitant cognitive task. The second and third sessions will correspond to experimental sessions during which the participants will accomplish a fatiguing task in single or dual-task situation (randomized order). The cognitive task will be a memory cognitive task, called n-back task. The fatiguing tasks will involve submaximal isometric contractions of the knee extensors performed until task failure. The neuromuscular fatigue will be evaluated regularly during the fatiguing tasks (i.e. about each minute) using the magnetic stimulation of the femoral nerve in order to assess to central and peripheral determinants of the neuromuscular fatigue. Moreover, the autonomic nervous system activity (via cardiac recordings), perceived exertion and cognitive performance (in dual-task situation) will be continuously recorded during the fatiguing tasks. Before and after each fatiguing tasks, several questionnaires will be completed (i.e. mood, motivation, subjective workload) in order to evaluate the psychological determinants of performance.

Conditions

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Single then dual task situation	Firstly, the participants have to perform the fatiguing task in simple task condition (control condition, i.e., muscle contraction alone). Secondly, few days later (between 3 and 7 days later), the participants have to perform the same fatiguing task with a concomitant memory cognitive task (i.e. dual-task condition).
OTHER	Dual then single task situation	Firstly, the participants have to perform the fatiguing task in dual-task condition (i.e. muscle fatiguing contraction with a concomitant memory cognitive task). Secondly, few days later (between 3 and 7 days later), the participants have to perform the same muscle fatiguing task without a concomitant memory cognitive task (i.e. control condition).

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-09-16
• Primary completion: 2023-02-17
• Completion: 2023-02-17
• First posted: 2019-07-23
• Last updated: 2025-01-28

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: France