PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Michael Wittmann
AU  - Dragan Stojanovic
AU  - Konrad Schultz
TI  - Effectiveness of a 3-week-in-patient-rehabilitation-program in patients with COPD GOLD-stage IV
DP  - 2013 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P2221
VI  - 42
IP  - Suppl 57
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P2221.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P2221.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2013 Sep 01; 42
AB  - Background: The current GOLD report stated that the minimal length of an effective rehabilitation program is 6 weeks. In Germany the usual duration of rehab-programs are 3 weeks, and they are usually conducted as inpatient programs. Therefore we wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of an intensive 3-week inpatient rehabilitation for COPD-patients and especially patients with COPD GOLD-stage IV, because for whom it is generally assumed that they require a longer period of rehab.Method: From 01/2010 until 12/2012 we admitted 544 consecutive patients with COPD GOLD stage IV (criteria GOLD 2010): mean inpatient stay 23.4 days, mean age 59.8 ±8.2 y, 58.5% male, 95.6% either current (28.1%) or former (67,5%) smokers, 60.1% with LTOT. We retrospectively analyzed among other factors the following routine parameters at the beginning (t0) and the end (t1) of the rehab: lung function (FEV1), walking distance (6MWD), dyspnoea (Borg scale) and quality of life (CAT).Results are displayed in table 1 (mean ±SD, p value in comparison with t0)View this table:table 1Discussion: We found significant and clinically meaningful improvements in all analyzed outcomes after the 3-week inpatient rehab program even in this group of patients with very severe COPD. Therefore, we believe that intensive 3-week inpatient rehabilitation programs that are common in Germany represent an effective alternative to prolonged outpatient programs, especially since the drop-out rate of this program was <3%.