Pulmonary rehabilitation and COPD

Pulmonary rehabilitation has been well established and increasingly recommended in disease management plans for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Key elements include a multidisciplinary approach to care, focus on the individual patient, and attention to emotional and social as well as physical aspects of health. Appropriate candidates are symptomatic patients with chronic lung disease who are aware of their disability and motivated to participate actively in their own health care. Pulmonary rehabilitation has also been useful for patients with other types of chronic lung diseases. Program components include a careful patient evaluation, education, instruction in respiratory and chest physiotherapy techniques, exercise training, and psychosocial support. Benefits demonstrated in a growing body of evidence include improvement in symptoms, exercise tolerance, and quality of life and reduction in utilization of health care resources. Pulmonary rehabilitation has also been included as an adjunct to surgical programs such as lung transplantation and lung volume reduction surgery.