EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PULMONARY REHABILITATION PROGRAMME IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE AND OBESITY

Aim. To evaluate the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation programme in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and obesity.
Materials and methods. The study included two groups of patients. The first group consisted of 44 patients with COPD and obesity (23 men and 21 women; median age — 57.47±0.76 years; average body mass index (BMI) — 34.1±1.24 kg/m2) who were receiving only standard medical treatment for COPD. The second group consisted of 44 patients (22 men, 22 women; median age — 56.07±0.83 years, average BMI — 33.4±1.62 kg/m2) who were undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation along with the standard medical treatment for COPD. Pulmonary rehabilitation programme involved group training of COPD patients including dietary recommendations, graduated exercise, as well as recommendations on smoking cessation. At the initial stage and 12 months after the study, the severity of COPD symptoms was assessed using a visual analogue scale, the frequency of exacerbations and hospitalisations, spirometry parameters, as well as quality of life data obtained via the SF-36 questionnaire.
Results. At 12 months into the study, patients from the second group showed a significant decrease in the number of COPD exacerbations and related hospitalisations; a decrease in the shortness of breath, cough, sputum production; as well as an improvement of the SF-36 questionnaire with respect to a number of points. At the same time, spirometry parameters did not improve significantly.
Conclusion. Inclusion of pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in the standard treatment of patients with COPD and obesity contributes to providing higher effcacy of medical treatment, decreasing the load of main COPD clinical symptoms, as well as to reducing their impact on the patients’ health status and improving life quality.