Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is recognized as one of the most relevant conditions worldwide, due to its high morbidity and mortality. Patients classified by GOLD as groups B and E are strongly encouraged to participate in pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programs. Dance has been shown to be equally or, at times, more effective as a rehabilitation strategy when compared to other types of physical activity. Objective: To compare the effect of conventional rehabilitation and the effect of conventional rehabilitation added to dance in patients with COPD. Methods: This is a conventional randomized controlled clinical trial to be carried at the Piquet Carneiro University Polyclinic, Rio de Janeiro. Patients diagnosed with COPD will be evaluated. Eligible participants will complete specific questionnaires and tests. Finally, participants will be randomly divided into two groups: one group will perform conventional PR twice a week and the other group will perform rehabilitation through dance twice a week using 2 different playlists. The music will be from nationally and internationally known artists during 8 weeks. The evaluation tests will be repeated at the end of the intervention. Expected results: It is expected that the group of individuals with COPD who perform rehabilitation through dance will obtain greater and better results in relation to exercise capacity, QoL and peripheral muscle strength when compared to the group that will carry out the intervention consisting of two days of conventional PR.
Keywords: Dance; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Muscle strength; Quality of life; Rehabilitation.