title: Home-based telerehabilitation via real-time videoconferencing improves endurance exercise capacity in patients with COPD: The randomized controlled TeleR Study.
abstract: Telerehabilitation has the potential to increase access to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) for patients with COPD who have difficulty accessing centre-based PR due to poor mobility, lack of transport and cost of travel. We aimed to determine the effect of supervised, home-based, real-time videoconferencing telerehabilitation on exercise capacity, self-efficacy, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and physical activity in patients with COPD compared with usual care without exercise training.
  
  
  
  Patients with COPD were randomized to either a supervised home-based telerehabilitation group (TG) that received exercise training three times a week for 8 weeks or a control group (CG) that received usual care without exercise training. Outcomes were measured at baseline and following the intervention.
  
  
  
  Thirty-six out of 37 participants (mean ± SD age = 74 ± 8 years, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) = 64 ± 21% predicted) completed the study. Compared with the CG, the TG showed a statistically significant increase in endurance shuttle walk test time (mean difference = 340 s (95% CI: 153-526, P < 0.001)), an increase in self-efficacy (mean difference = 8 points (95% CI: 2-14, P < 0.007)), a trend towards a statistically significant increase in the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire total score (mean difference = 8 points (95% CI: -1 to 16, P = 0.07)) and no difference in physical activity (mean difference = 475 steps per day (95% CI: -200 to 1151, P = 0.16)).
  
  
  
  This study showed that telerehabilitation improved endurance exercise capacity and self-efficacy in patients with COPD when compared with usual care.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Physiotherapy, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Department of Physiotherapy, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Ling Ling Y
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Renae J
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5468-7176
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.affiliation: Agency for Clinical Innovation, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Chloe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moddel
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Physiotherapy, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Department of Physiotherapy, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Alison
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: McKenzie
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Physiotherapy, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Zoe J
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: McKeough
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D000069350:Telerehabilitation / Q000379:methods*; D049269:Videoconferencing
keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; exercise; pulmonary rehabilitation; telerehabilitation; videoconferencing