Outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Original Research

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Authors: Shahin Barakat, Germain Michele, Pastene George, Viallet Nicole, Annat Guy

Published Date March 2008 Volume 2008:3(1) Pages 155 - 162

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S2126

Shahin Barakat¹, Germain Michele², Pastene George³, Viallet Nicole⁴, Annat Guy⁵

¹Master of (experimental physiopathology) and doctoral student of physiopathology; ²Chef of the service of EFR, Hospital of the Croix-Rousse at Lyon, France; ³Hospital of Croix-Rousse at Lyon, France; ⁵Service of EFR, Hospital of the Croix Rousse at Lyon, France; ⁵UFR Médecine Lyon Grange-Blanche Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, INSERM ESPRI ERI 22, Lyon, France

Objective: To evaluate an entirely outpatient-based program of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD, using St.George’s Respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ), the 6-minutes walking test (6-MWT) and BODE index as the primary outcome measures.

Methods: A prospective, parallel-group controlled study of an outpatient rehabilitation program in 80 patients with COPD (67 men and 13 women; mean age 64.8 ± 10.6 years; FEV₁, 42.8% ± 7.6% of the predicted value. The active group (n = 40) took part in a 14-week rehabilitation program [3 h/wk, 1.5 h of education and exercise and 1.5 h of cycling]. The control group (n = 40) was reviewed routinely as medical outpatients. The following evaluations were carried out at study entry and after 14weeks: (1) pulmonary function studies; (2) 6-minutes walking test 6MWT; (3) quality of life; and (4) BODE index.

Results: The following patients completed the study: 35 patients (87.5%) from the active group (mean age, 63.7 ± 11.9 years; mean forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁), 41.9 ± 2.6% of the predicted value); and 36 patients (88%) from the control group (mean age, 65.9 ± 10.3 years; mean FEV₁, 43.33 ± 3.6% of the predicted value). We found no changes in pulmonary function parameters in the active group and the control one at 14weeks. On the other hand, there were significant changes within the components of the SGRQ (12.3 for the score total) for the patients of the active group but not for the patients of the control one (only 1.5 for the score total), we observed also a significant increase in the distance of the 6-MWT in the patients of the active group but not for the patients of the control one, and finally a decrease of two points (from 6 to 4) was noted in the score of the active group’s BODE index without any change in the control group’s one.

Conclusion: An outpatient-based of 14-week rehabilitation program significantly improved the quality of life and exercise tolerance without any change in the pulmonary function in patients with moderate COPD, and there was also a large decrease in the risk of death in rehabilitated patients as measured using the BODE index.

Keywords: COPD, quality of life, pulmonary rehabilitation, 6-minute walking test, BODE index

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