title: Differences in patient outcomes between a 6, 7 and 8 week pulmonary rehabilitation programme: A service evaluation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate changes and differences in patient outcomes over time for 6, 7 and 8 week pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in order to identify optimal duration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community based pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in the East of England.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total 363 participants completed one of the three pulmonary rehabilitation programmes. Patients with a chronic respiratory condition showing a commitment to the pulmonary rehabilitation programme and no contraindications to exercise were included.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pulmonary rehabilitation twice a week for 6, 7 or 8 weeks.
  
  
  METHODS
  St Georges Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Incremental Shuttle Walk Test (ISWT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All programmes showed improvements in ISWT post rehabilitation, with the 8 week programme showing the greatest improvement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings show that greatest improvements in terms of exercise capacity may be seen from 8 week pulmonary rehabilitation programmes, but that improvement for the ISWT can be obtained from 6, 7 or 8 week programmes.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Human Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK. Electronic address: landre@essex.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Leanne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: COPD Team, Central Essex Community Services, West Wing 2, Broomfield Hospital, Hospital Approach, Chelmsford CM1 7ET, UK. Electronic address: ruth.barlow@nhs.net.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barlow
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Human Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK. Electronic address: eeaston@essex.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Izzie
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Easton
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012138:Respiratory Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: COPD; Duration of programme; Pulmonary rehabilitation