Meta-analysis on the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation program on exercise capacity/tolerance and general health status

Abstract

This study was conducted to combine the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP) on exercise capacity/tolerance and general health status of COPD patients based on the primary research results examined the effects of PRP. Seventeen studies were selected by the sampling criteria established to include the studies that reported enough statistics necessary to conduct meta-analysis. According to the study results, the most effective indicators for exercise capacity/tolerance were exercise time (such as cycling time or treadmill walking time) and ground walking distance within given time (6 minutes or 12 minutes), whereas effects on such indicators as VE and VO2 were not statistically significant. PRP induced significant effect on patients' general health status, frequently measured by physical, psycho-emotional, and holistic indicators, the enhancement on psycho-emotional dimension resulted from PRP was more prominent than those of the other dimensions. From the results, it was noted that the place where PRP was given and the contents of PRP exercised their influence on the outcome variables. Which body part was trained was also one of the important factors that influence on the patients' perception of dyspnea during exercise as well as on exercise capacity/tolerance. PRP including exercise training significantly improved the exercise capacity and general health status of COPD patients.