Impact of Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program on Health Outcomes of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Patients with COPD experience a succession of distressing physical, psychological and social changes. Currently, there is no cure for COPD or its debilitating effects on pulmonary function. As a result, health care professionals have shifted their focus from reversing the disease process to reducing disability and improving QOL. The study was to assess the impact of pulmonary rehabilitation program on health outcomes of patients with COPD. The study was conducted in the chest diseases department of Mansoura University Hospital. A total of 27 COPD patients were enrolled in the study. They received the two- month home-based pulmonary rehabilitation program in addition to usual hospital care. The health outcomes were measured by five tools; Saint's George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), six minutes walk test, Modified Borg Dyspnea Scale and pulmonary function test. The study revealed that, only activity dimension of SGRQ improved significantly in patients with both moderate and severe disease stages while patients with very severe stage showed significant improvement in all dimensions of SGRQ except symptoms dimention. There was no significant improvement in pulmonary function tests of patients in three disease stages. Functional capacity and perceived exertional dyspnea were significantly improved for patients in the moderate and severe stages, while very severe stage patients showed significant improvement only in perceived dyspnea. The supervised two- month home-based pulmonary rehabilitation program is an effective non pharmacological intervention in the management of moderate, severe and very severe stable COPD patients. Keywords: Pulmonary rehabilitation; Quality of Life; health outcomes; COPD stages