Background: This is a study of an outpatient programme for rehabilitation of patients with severe ventilatory impairment due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Its main purpose was to assess the feasibility of such a programme and so no control group was included.
Methods: The study included 44 patients (28 men) of mean age 66 years with COPD. They all had severe ventilatory impairment as defined by a forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) less than 40% of predicted. Initial assessment included a shuttle walking test, the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire (CRDQ), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). The patients then entered a 6-week outpatient programme during which they attended twice weekly for a 2 1/2 hour session. Assessment was repeated on completion of the study (the 3 1/2 month assessment) and at 6 months.
Results: The shuttle walking distance improved significantly and was maintained at the improved level for 6 months. The improvement in all four dimensions of the CRDQ was statistically significant and reached clinical significance for fatigue and for mastery. On entry, a notable level of depression was found in 32% of patients, and of anxiety in 40%. There was significant reduction in both of these which was maintained at 6 months. There was no improvement in the SIP at 3 months, but significant improvement was found at 6 months.
Conclusions: This study shows that a successful outpatient programme can be conducted in patients with severe ventilatory impairment, and that apparent benefit in physical ability and in health-related quality of life can be achieved. The improvements were maintained at 6 months.