Evaluation of the effectiveness of manual chest physiotherapy techniques on quality of life at six months post exacerbation of COPD (MATREX): a randomised controlled equivalence trial

Table 2 Summary of MCP Treatment parameters (N = 658 sessions)

MCP treatment parameter	Min	Max	Mean/median	Breakdown of parameter: N (% total sessions)
Number of MCP sessions/patient	1	21	2.53/2	N. sessions per patient	N. patients	N. sessions^a	% Total sessions
					(total = 257)	(total = 658)
				1	97	97	14
				2	70	140	21
				3	47	141	22
				4	20	80	12
				5	6	30	5
				6	3	18	3
				7	5	35	5
				8 or more	9	117	18
Number of positions/session	1	3	1.91/2	1 position: 248 sessions (38%)
				2 positions: 404 sessions (61%)
				3 positions: 6 sessions (1%)
Time taken per session	1	41	11.9/11	Less than 5 minutes: 14 sessions (2%)
				5 − 10 minutes: 266 sessions (40%)
				11 − 19 minutes: 323 sessions (49%)
				20 − 25 minutes: 44 sessions (7%)
				26 or more minutes: 11 sessions (2%)
O₂ saturation (%) - immediately prior to MCP	74	100	92.0/93	Less than 85%: 30 (4%)
				85% to 89%: 111 (17%)
				90% to 94%: 413 (63%)
				95% to 100%: 98 (15%)
O₂ saturation (%) --lowest during MCP	69	99	91.3/92	Less than 85%: 44 (7%)
				85% to 89%: 130 (20%)
				90% to 94%: 385 (58%)
				95% to 100%: 93 (14%)
O₂ saturation (%) - change during MCP	−18	+13	−0.7/0	Drop in O₂ saturation: 268 (41%)
				No change in O₂ saturation: 258 (39%)
				Increase in O₂ saturation: 126 (19%)
Deviations from MCP Treatment Protocol	N = 258			One position only: 248 (38%)
				O₂ saturation not recorded: 6 (<1%)
				Patient declined treatment: 4 (<1%)
Alternative positions selected	N = 44			Upright: 31 (5%)
				Leaning forward: 10 (2%)
				Flat on back: 3 (<1%)

^a Numbers quoted comprise the total number of sessions received by trial participants between 1^st December 2005 and 30^th October 2008. This includes MCP given at subsequent admissions during the 6 month follow up.

ISSN: 1471-2466