Predictors of poor attendance at an outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation programme.

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is recommended for patients with respiratory disease who feel limited by breathlessness. Poor attendance wastes finite resources, increases waiting times and is probably associated with poorer clinical outcomes. We investigated what factors, identifiable from routine hospital data, predict poor attendance once enrolled in a pulmonary rehabilitation programme (PRP).

Associated loss of fat-free mass and bone mineral density in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

We hypothesized that in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, loss of fat-free mass (FFM) and loss of bone mineral density (BMD) were related to (1) each other and may be clinically inapparent, (2) urinary markers of cellular and bone collagen protein breakdown, and (3) severity of lung disease. Eight-one patients and 38 healthy subjects underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to determine body composition and BMD. Urinary protein breakdown markers, inflammatory mediators, and their soluble receptors were determined.