title: Effect of inpatient rehabilitation on quality of life and exercise capacity in long-term lung transplant survivors: a prospective, randomized study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an inpatient rehabilitation program on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and exercise capacity (EC) in long-term (>1 year after lung transplantation) survivors (LTSs) in comparison to a control group (CG).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty LTSs, 4.5 ± 3.2 years after lung transplantation (LTx), were randomly assigned to two equally sized groups that were stratified for gender and underlying disease. Thirty LTSs (age 49 ± 13 years, 13 male and 17 females, 19 double LTxs, 7 BOS Stage ≥ 1) attended an inpatient rehabilitation program (intervention group, IG) for 23 ± 5 days. The CG (age 50 ± 12 years, 13 males and 17 females, 20 double LTxs, 2 BOS Stage ≥ 1) received medical standard therapy (physiotherapy). Patients were evaluated by cardiopulmonary exercise testing, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), SF-36, SGRQ and the Quality of Life Profile for Chronic Diseases questionnaire before and after (18 ± 3 days) the program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The groups were statistically indistinguishable in terms of clinical data. Each treatment group significantly improved their sub-maximal EC (6MWT: IG, 493 ± 90 m vs 538 ± 90 m, p < 0.001; CG, 490 ± 88 m vs 514 ± 89 m, p < 0.001) and maximal EC (VO(2peak): IG, 17.0 vs 18.5 ml/min/kg, p = 0.039; CG, 18.0 vs 19.5 ml/min/kg, p = 0.005), without reaching statistical significance between the groups. In both study groups, patients HRQOL tended to improve. Significant correlations were found between EC parameters and HRQOL scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that structured physical training may improve exercise tolerance in LTS. Our study results did not demonstrate a significant benefit of an inpatient over an outpatient exercise program.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine I, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. franziska.ihle@med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ihle
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neurohr
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huppmann
authors.forename: Gregor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: Hanno
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leuchte
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kenn
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sczepanski
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hatz
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Czerner
authors.forename: Lorenz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ueberfuhr
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bittmann
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Behr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000502:physiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology