Therapeutic activities during a pulmonary rehabilitation program in patients with chronic respiratory failure

Abstract

Introduction: Patients with chronic respiratory failure (CRF) of any etiology may have emotional and affective disorders along with their disease development. Objectively, they decrease the adhesion to treatment due to, p.e., anxiety or depression events. Therapeutic activities (TAs) may be helpful to improve common mental disorders (CMD) and to stabilize pulmonary treatment. Objective: to evaluate the quality of life and CMD in patients with CRF before and after TAs in a pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP) . Methodology: In our PRP, in addition to muscular training we included TAs such as surfing and tennis lessons, human foosball and singing in a choir. TAs are new and challenging activities that were added to their PRP. We evaluated the quality of life and CMD through Saint George9s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20), respectively, before and after the PRP. We included patients that were submitted to PRP for 12 months. Results: Thirty-nine patients completed the study. Patients had a decrease in SGRQ score from 34 to 29 points, a difference in 14%. Twenty-two patients (56,4%) had an improvement in their quality of life. In relation to CMD, sixteen (41%) had mental disorders. Of these patients, ten (62%) had a total improvement in their CMD after PRP with TAs; 4 (25%) partially improved and 2 (12%) did not improve at all. Conclusion: CRF patients in a PRP with additional TAs improved their quality of life and their emotional and affective disorders. TAs should be more stimulated besides conventional PRP treatment.