title: Pulmonary rehabilitation: future directions.
abstract: Pulmonary rehabilitation is now an established standard of care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although pulmonary rehabilitation has no appreciable direct effect on static measurements of lung function, it arguably provides the greatest benefit of any available therapy across multiple outcome areas important to the patient with respiratory disease, including dyspnea, exercise performance, and health-related quality of life. It also appears to be a potent intervention that reduces COPD hospitalizations, especially when given in the periexacerbation period. The role of pulmonary rehabilitation within the larger schema of integrated care represents a fruitful area for further research.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Medicine/Critical Care Section, Providence VA Medical Center, 830 Chalkstone Avenue, Providence, RI 02908, USA. Electronic address: linda_nici@brown.edu.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nici
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care-Medical, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Saint Francis Medical Group, Inc, 114 Woodland Street, Hartford, CT 06105, USA.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: ZuWallack
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D017216:Telemedicine
keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Physical activity; Pulmonary rehabilitation; Self-management