Clinical benefits of home-based pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose: To evaluate the benefits of home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in patients with severe and very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: Randomized clinical trial involving 58 patients. Pulmonary function, quality of life evaluated by the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire, breathlessness evaluated by the London Chest Activity of Daily Living Scale, and exercise tolerance evaluated by 6-minute walk distance were assessed at baseline and at 12 weeks.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients' experience with pulmonary rehabilitation: a systematic review of qualitative research.

The aim of this study was to give an in-depth consideration of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients' subjective view of the impact of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on their lives. A systematic review in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and PsychInfo databases yielded 3306 articles, of which 387 were duplicates, 263 remained after screening abstract and title; of them, 4 were excluded (editorial or due to lacking of full text) remaining a total of 259 for full text reading. Among these, eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were finally included.