15 Dec UK Study Finds Pulmonary Rehab for COPD Underutilized
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Quint
Dr Jennifer K Quint MSc PhD FHEA FRCP
Clinical Senior Lecturer Respiratory Epidemiology
Respiratory Epidemiology, Occupational Medicine and Public Health
National Heart and Lung Institute
Imperial College
London
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We were commissioned by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in the UK to undertake a piece of work to show the value of pulmonary rehabilitation in reducing exacerbations in COPD patients so that they could create a web based tool that would show cost savings if GPs actually referred people for pulmonary rehabilitation.
Previous systematic reviews have found that pulmonary rehab can reduce hospital admissions but those groups are often small and not very generalizable so we decided to look at what happens in a primary care COPD population. Our main finding is that people who are eligible for referral are not being referred – less than 10% eligible were actually referred.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Response: More needs to be done to encourage GPs to refer COPD patients for pulmonary rehabilitation. Even though we did not find it reduces exacerbation number, it certainly has many other benefits including improving symptoms and quality of life.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: To understand the barriers and facilitators to referral.
No disclosures
MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.
Citation:
Chest. 2017 Dec;152(6):1188-1202. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2017.05.006. Epub 2017 May 16.
Effects of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Exacerbation Number and Severity in People With COPD: An Historical Cohort Study Using Electronic Health Records.
Moore E1, Newson R2, Joshi M3, Palmer T2, Rothnie KJ1, Singh S4, Majeed A2, Soljak M2, Quint JK5.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28526656
Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.
[wysija_form id=”1″]
Last Updated on December 15, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD