P116 Differences In Patient Outcomes Between A 6, 7 And 8 Week Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programme

Abstract

Background NICE (2010) recommend that pulmonary rehabilitation programmes run between 6–12 weeks in duration. To date, there is no consensus in the research to the optimal duration of a programme. Objectives To investigate changes in patient outcomes over time for 6, 7 and 8 week pulmonary rehabilitation programmes. To investigate differences in patient outcomes between 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 had 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 Score (HADS) and Incremental Shuttle Walk Test (ISWT). Results The t-tests indicated a statistically significant improvement in patients’ exercise capacity (measured by the ISWT) for all 3 programmes (p (2,341) = 6.72, p = 0.001). Conclusions 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. References National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Commissioning a pulmonary rehabilitation service for patients with COPD. 2010. [http://www.nice.org.uk/usingguidance/commissioningguides/pulmonaryrehabilitationserviceforpatientswithcopd/commissioning.jsp] Accessed 13/07/13