COPD patients benefit from telerehabilitation, according to trial
By HME News Staff
Updated 11:31 AM CST, Mon January 9, 2023
NEW YORK – Long-term telerehabilitation and unsupervised training at home for COPD patients are both successful in reducing hospital readmissions and can broaden the availability of pulmonary rehabilitation and maintenance strategies, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Researchers embarked on the randomized controlled trial because, despite the benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD, many patients do not access or complete rehabilitation. They set out to compare long-term rehabilitation or unsupervised treadmill training at home with standard care. In the trial, patients with COPD were assigned to three groups (telerehabilitation, unsupervised training, control) and followed for up to two years. Telerehabilitation consisted of individualized treadmill training at home supervised by a physiotherapist and self-management. Unsupervised training group consisted of treadmill exercise at home. Control consisted of standard care. Researchers found the incidence rate of hospitalizations and emergency department presentations was lower in the telerehabilitation (1.18 events per person-year, 95% CI: 0.94, 1.46) and unsupervised training groups (1.14, 95% CI: 0.92, 1.41) compared to the control group (1.88, 95% CI: 1.58, 2.21). The telerehabilitation and unsupervised training groups experienced better health status for one year.
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