In Which the Gain is more from Pulmonary Rehabilitation? Asthma or COPD?

Özet

OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is useful for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but not clear forpatients with asthma. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of PR in patients with asthma by comparing patientswith COPD. The study was designed as a retrospective case series. We recruited patients with COPD and asthma.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Demographics, respiratory symptoms, medications, smoking history, comorbidities, exercise capacity,respiratory function tests, and quality of life (QOL) were recorded. Exercise capacity was evaluated by the 6-minute walk test (6MWT),QOL with St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) Quality of Life Questionnaire, andHospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale.RESULTS: Forty-two patients with asthma and 25 COPD who completed PR were included in the study. There was no difference interms of age and sex between the groups (p=0.100 and p=0.365, respectively); however, body mass index was higher in the asthmaticgroup (p=0.007). Partial oxygen pressure (pO2) difference and arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) difference were significantly higher inthe COPD group than in the asthma group after PR (p 0.05).CONCLUSION: Physicians refer patients with COPD to PR; however, patients with asthma are not generally referred to the same frequency. We would like to emphasize that PR may be as effective as COPD in asthma.