A Home-Based Multimedia Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program Improves Clinical Symptoms and Physical Performance of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Anoma Santiworakul,Nitita Piya-amornphan,Netchanok Jianramas

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111479

Abstract

Home-based pulmonary rehabilitation can decrease symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a home-based pulmonary rehabilitation by instructive multimedia in the form of videos and flip charts on clinical symptoms and exercise performance in COPD patients. An eight-week home-based pulmonary rehabilitation program was performed with twenty COPD patients older than 60 years of age with moderate to severe stages. They were separated into two groups: a multimedia group (n = 10) and a control group, which was only provided with telephone monitoring (n = 10). Clinical symptoms were measured by using the clinical COPD questionnaire (CCQ), and exercise performance was measured using a six-minute walk test (6MWT) and an upper-lower limb muscle strengthening test. After 8 weeks, the results showed that both groups showed a statistically significant decrease in the CCQ (p < 0.05). The multimedia group showed a statistically significant increase in the lower-limb muscle strengthening (p < 0.05), while the control group was not found to show a statistically significant increase in the lower-limb muscle strengthening. Therefore, a pulmonary rehabilitation program using multimedia at home can lessen symptoms and improve exercise performance in COPD patients.

Highlights

The exclusion criteria were as follows: patients who had cardiovascular or neurological diseases; patients who had fallen down or had a history of broken bones; patients with other systemic diseases, such as lung cancer, infection, anxiety and depression, or diabetes; patients with hypertension who did not receive regular medicine or abstained from treatment for more than 6 months; patients with a condition made unstable by the rehabilitation program; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with an exacerbated condition who had received hospital treatment due to dyspnea more than three times in the past year
This study found that the total clinical COPD questionnaire (CCQ) score in both groups decreased significantly after the programs; there was no significant difference between the multimedia group and the control group
An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of a home-based pulmonary rehabilitation program with multimedia, including videos, flip charts, and a structural telephone monitoring evaluating clinical symptoms, exercise performance, and strength of the upper and lower extremities in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Summary

Introduction

Patients with COPD are found throughout the world, in both urban and rural areas [3]. They have chronic inflammation of the airways, resulting in decreased air entry into the lungs, shortness of breath, and a reduced ability to carry out daily activities [4,5]. The multidisciplinary program of care, involving both pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods, improves the patient’s condition by decreasing dyspnea, fatigue, and anxiety regarding health issues, as well as by increasing exercise capacity and quality of life These bring about long-term care costs for both the government and the patient’s family [6,7]

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