Differences in patient outcomes between a 6, 7 and 8 week pulmonary rehabilitation programme: A service evaluation

Objective: To investigate changes and differences in patient outcomes over time for 6, 7 and 8 week pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in order to identify optimal duration. Setting: Community based pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in the East of England. Participants: In total 363 participants completed one of the three pulmonary rehabilitation programmes. Patients with a chronic respiratory condition showing a commitment to the pulmonary rehabilitation programme and no contraindications to exercise were included. Intervention: Pulmonary rehabilitation twice a week for 6, 7 or 8 weeks. Main outcome measures: St Georges Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Incremental Shuttle Walk Test (ISWT). Results: All programmes showed improvements in ISWT post rehabilitation, with the 8 week programme showing the greatest improvement. Conclusion: Findings show that greatest improvements in terms of exercise capacity may be seen from 8 week pulmonary rehabilitation programmes, but that improvement for the ISWT can be obtained from 6, 7 or 8 week programmes.