HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:
Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password

This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Correction (v132,p738) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Article Archive Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Güell, R. Articles by Guyatt, G. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Güell, R. Articles by Guyatt, G. H.

Impact of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Psychosocial Morbidity in Patients With Severe COPD^*

^* From the Departament de Pneumologia (Drs. Güell and Casan, and Ms. Resqueti, Ms. Sangenis, and Ms. Morante) and the Departament de Psiquiatria (Dr. Martorell), Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain; and McMaster University (Dr. Guyatt), Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Correspondence to: Rosa Güell, MD, PhD, Departament de Pneumologia, Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau, Av. Pare Claret, 167 08025 Barcelona, Spain; e-mail: mguellr{at}santpau.es

Abstract

Study objective: To assess the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on psychosocial morbidity, functional exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with severe COPD.

Design: A prospective, randomized, controlled trial with blinding of outcome assessment and data analysis.

Setting: A tertiary-care respiratory service.

Patients: Forty patients (mean age, 65 ± 8 years [± SD]) with severe chronic flow limitation (FEV₁, 35 ± 13%) without respiratory failure (PaO₂, 72 ± 9 mm Hg; PaCO₂, 42 ± 5 mm Hg) were randomized either to a control group or to a PR group (PRG).

Interventions: Sixteen weeks of PR that included breathing retraining and exercise.

Measurements: At baseline and 16 weeks, we evaluated psychosocial morbidity using two questionnaires (the Millon Behavior Health Inventory [MBHI] and the Revised Symptom Checklist [SCL-90-R]) and measured 6-min walk distance (6WMD) and HRQL using the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ).

Results: We found differences in favor of the PRG in the following MBHI domains: introversive, forceful, and sensitive personality styles (all p 0.05) and chronic tension (p 0.01). Results of the depression, hostility, global severity, positive symptom distress index (all p 0.01), somatization, anxiety, psychoticism, and positive symptom (all p 0.05) domains of the SCL-90-R favored the PRG. We also found statistically and clinically significant differences between groups in 6MWD (85 m; p < 0.01) and in two domains of the CRQ: dyspnea (1.0; p < 0.01) and mastery (0.6; p < 0.05). The other two domains of CRQ showed strong trends in favor of PRG: 0.7 for both fatigue and emotional function (minimal important difference, 0.5).

Conclusions: PR may decrease psychosocial morbidity in COPD patients even when no specific psychological intervention is performed. Findings from this study also confirm the positive impact of PR on functional exercise capacity and HRQL.

Key Words: COPD • effort capacity • health-related quality of life • psychological tests • pulmonary rehabilitation

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. S. Fan, S. D. Ramsey, N. D. Giardino, B. J. Make, C. F. Emery, P. T. Diaz, J. O. Benditt, Z. Mosenifar, R. McKenna Jr, J. L. Curtis, et al. Sex, Depression, and Risk of Hospitalization and Mortality in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Arch Intern Med, November 26, 2007; 167(21): 2345 - 2353. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]