Resultados en salud a largo plazo de un programa estructurado de rehabilitación respiratoria en pacientes con enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica

Abstract

IntroductionChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has a huge impact in Spain. The main symptom is dyspnea. Pulmonary rehabilitation aims to decrease morbidity and mortality and increase quality of life. The aim of our study was to assess the long-term effectiveness of a respiratory rehabilitation program in enhancing quality of life and treatment adherence and in reducing mortality and morbidity. Material and methodsA cross-sectional observational study was carried out in a prospective cohort of patients with stable grade III and IV COPD, as measured by the GOLD scale. The participants completed a pulmonary rehabilitation program. A questionnaire was designed to collect perceptions of dyspnea, exacerbations, mortality, treatment adherence, and quality of life, measured with anxiety-depression questionnaires, the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ) before and 1 year after of treatment. ResultsThe perception of dyspnea decreased after a month of treatment. At 1 year, the number of exacerbations was 4.06 and mortality was 5.9%. A total of 78.9% of the patients continued training at home and obtained better results if they trained 3 days per week or more. Quality of life showed improvement in the anxiety-depression questionnaires, SGRQ scale, and in some areas of the CRQ scale. ConclusionsThe pulmonary rehabilitation program produced long-term benefits for health, improving autonomy in activities of daily living and self-perceived quality of life.