A quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design
was used. Out-patients with mild COPD were recruited
from 2 primary care centers. Inclusion criteria were diagnosis
of mild COPD according to the Global Initiative for
Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria (postbronchodilator
FEV,/FVC < 0.7 and FEV, > 80% of
predicted), s ] 8 years old, and clinical stability for 1 month
prior to the study (ie, no hospital admissions or exacerbations
as defined by GOLD).4 * Patients were excluded if
they presented severe psychiatric, neurologic, or musculoskeletal
conditions7 and/or unstable cardiovascular disease
that could interfere with their performance during the
exercise training sessions. The study received full approval
from the institutional ethics committee, and written informed
consent was obtained before data collection.