Ambulatory pulmonary rehabilitation programme in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a preliminary study

The aim of the study was to present an ambulatory pulmonary rehabilitation programme, based on a circuit form and a preliminary evaluation in order to verify whether such a programme has an impact on exercise capacity and quality of life in patients suffering from COPD. Seven patients with severe and very severe COPD completed the rehabilitation programme. In each training session patients performed 9 circuit exercises and a 10-minute walk. In this study following assessments were used: St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ), London Chest Activities of Daily Living Scale, HAD scale, Incremental and Endurance Shuttle Walk Tests (ISWT & ESWT). HR, SaO2 and dyspnoea (Borg scale) were measured by means of pre- and post-exercise tests. A small number of patients who finished this programme and a little frequency of training sessions a week resulted in a lack of statistically significant outcomes.