The relationship between physical activity and health status in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease following pulmonary rehabilitation

AbstractAim: To investigate the relationship between physical activity (PA) and measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and hospital admissions in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) following pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Method: CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, AMED, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library (database inception to July 2014) were searched. Relevant outcomes included relationships between PA and HRQoL, lung function (forced expiratory volume in one second, FEV1) and/or hospital admission. Six quantitative and 11 qualitative studies were included and Harden’s method of data synthesis in a mixed-methods systematic review was applied. Results: Six months following PR, increase activity levels was associated with improvement of 62m in 6MWD, 2.31 and 15.55 points increase in SGRQ and CRDQ total scores, respectively, 1.3% FEV1 and reduced dyspnoea. No study reported on hospital admission. Reported relationships were facilitated by healthcare professionals, social supporters, motiv...