A randomised controlled trial of four weeks versus seven weeks of pulmonary rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND Pulmonary rehabilitation programmes have been shown to improve both exercise tolerance and health status in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The optimal duration for a pulmonary rehabilitation programme is, however, unknown. To assess whether the current pulmona...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Thorax 2001-02, Vol.56 (2), p.143-145
Main Authors: Green, R H, Singh, S J, Williams, J, Morgan, M D L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma
Confidence Intervals
duration
Emphysema
Exercise
Exercise Test
Female
Fitness equipment
Health Status
Humans
Lung Diseases, Obstructive - rehabilitation
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Original
Physical fitness
Physical Therapy Modalities - methods
Pneumology
pulmonary rehabilitation
Quality of life
Questionnaires
Rehabilitation
Studies
Time Factors
Walking
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Summary:BACKGROUND Pulmonary rehabilitation programmes have been shown to improve both exercise tolerance and health status in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The optimal duration for a pulmonary rehabilitation programme is, however, unknown. To assess whether the current pulmonary rehabilitation programme could be shortened a randomised controlled trial was conducted in 44 patients with COPD who were allocated to either a seven week or a four week course. METHODS Patients were randomised to either our standard seven week twice weekly outpatient based programme or a comparable but shortened four week course. They were assessed at baseline and at completion by the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ), the Breathing Problems Questionnaire (BPQ), the incremental shuttle walking test (SWT), and the treadmill endurance test (TET). RESULTS Twenty one patients (61% men) of mean (SD) age 68 (9.2) years and forced expiratory volume in one second ( FEV1) 1.08 (0.4) l completed a conventional seven week course and 23 (67% men) of mean (SD) age 69 (8.8) years and FEV1 1.03 (0.3) l completed a shortened four week course. Patients who completed the seven week rehabilitation programme had greater improvements in all outcome measures than those undertaking the four week course. These differences reached clinical and statistical significance for the total CRQ score, which was the primary outcome variable (mean difference (95% confidence intervals (CI) of difference) –0.61(–0.15 to –1.08), p
ISSN:0040-6376
1468-3296
DOI:10.1136/thorax.56.2.143