Pulmonary rehabilitation and cardiovascular risk in COPD: a systematic review

Abstract

IntroductionPulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) is an effective intervention in COPD however the value of PR in reducing cardiovascular risk in COPD (measured by aortic pulse wave velocity, aPWV) is unclear and there is no existing systematic review.ObjectivesTo conduct a systematic review examining whether PR results in alteration of CV risk in COPD (as measured by aPWV).MethodsAn electronic systematic search concordant with PRISMA guidelines was conducted. The search was complete to the 27th of May 2017. Six databases were examined: Embase, Medline, AMED, Web of Science, Cochrane clinical trials, and CINAHL.ResultsThis study generated 767 initial matches, which were filtered using inclusion/exclusion criteria. Three studies (201 COPD participants) were included. Our analysis does not confirm that PR affects aPWV but studies were heterogeneous.ConclusionThere is currently insufficient information on the effect of PR on reducing CV risk in COPD. Therefore controversy remains, with the possibility that there might be some subjects who benefit and others who might experience an increase in CV risk in response to PR. These results will be of value to those interested in gaining a better understanding of the benefits of PR on CV risk in COPD.