Effectiveness of Repeated Courses of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Functional Exercise Capacity in Patients With COPD.

Purpose: To determine whether an as-needed repeated pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) intervention produces a clinically important improvement in exercise capacity.

Methods: The study included a retrospective analysis of characteristics and 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who completed PR at 2 centers. Data were abstracted from all patients with COPD completing 2 courses of rehabilitation and those of randomly sampled patients completing only 1 course of PR.

An official American Thoracic Society systematic review: Influence of psychosocial characteristics on workplace disability among workers with respiratory impairment.

Rationale: Psychosocial characteristics likely play an important role in the severity of workplace disability for workers with a respiratory impairment.

Objectives: We performed a systematic review of the available literature to examine the impact of psychosocial characteristics on workplace disability among workers with a respiratory impairment.

Methods: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses recommendations, we searched Medline and other published and unpublished sources using the PubMed and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical Trials (CENTRAL) search engines from January 1, 1990 through March 8, 2013 for quantitative studies that examined the association of psychosocial characteristics with workplace disability among workers with a respiratory impairment.

The use of a home exercise program based on a computer system in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose: To test the effectiveness of a home exercise program based on a user-friendly, computer system, the Nintendo Wii Fit.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, 25 clinically stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease began a 6-week nonintervention (baseline) period followed by 12 weeks of Wii exercise training at home. Patients were instructed to exercise 5 or more days per week.

The effect of pulmonary rehabilitation on healthcare utilization in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: The Northeast Pulmonary Rehabilitation Consortium.

Although pulmonary rehabilitation results in improvement in multiple outcome areas, relatively few studies in the United States have evaluated its effect on healthcare utilization. This study compared aspects of healthcare utilization during the year before to the year after outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease referred to 11 hospital-based centers in Connecticut and New York. Utilization data from 128 of 132 patients who originally gave informed consent were evaluated; their mean age was 69 years and their forced expiratory volume in 1 second was 44% of predicted.

Clinically meaningful outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by chronic airflow limitation, gas exchange abnormalities, hyperinflation, and other pathophysiologic events. However, patients are usually unaware of these physical changes and only seek medical attention when distressing symptoms, such as dyspnea and exercise limitation, begin to appear. Therefore, it is reasonable to directly assess these clinical areas of importance to the patient, both as determinants of the impact of the disease process and as outcomes following intervention.