PTA Physical Therapy Assistant

Answer: D - Both B and C (Facilitate relaxed diaphragmatic breathing to teach pacing activity) is the goal of treatment for a 60-year-old female diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with breathing difficulty mainly during expiration along with a respiratory rate of 22 cycles / min.

Patients with primary lung disease tend to overuse the accessory muscle. The goal of treatment should be to relax the accessory muscles, to facilitate the diaphragmatic breathing, and to teach pacing with breathing control.

The facilitation of accessory muscles is used in patients with secondary lung diseases such as in high spinal cord injury. For those patients, the accessory muscles are strong and intact. Therefore, the goal should be to focus on facilitating accessory muscles which can prevent atelectasis and pneumonia.