Health status measured by the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) improves following post-acute pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with advanced COPD: a prospective observational study

AIMS: To evaluate outcomes of the Clinical Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Questionnaire (CCQ) in patients with advanced COPD admitted for a post-acute pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programme and to relate (change in) health status to lung function, degree of dyspnoea and (change in) functional capacity. METHODS: This is a prospective observational study in patients with advanced COPD admitted for a post-acute PR programme in a skilled nursing facility. Health status (CCQ) and functional capacity were measured before and after rehabilitation. RESULTS: Health status measured by the CCQ was severely impaired and showed significant and clinically relevant improvement during the post-acute PR programme. Moderate to strong correlations were found between CCQ scores and functional capacity on admission and at discharge. Moderate correlations were found between improvement in CCQ scores and improvement in functional capacity. No correlation was found between CCQ scores and lung function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s % predicted). CONCLUSIONS: Health status measured by the CCQ improves following a post-acute PR programme in patients with advanced COPD and correlates with improvement in functional capacity. These results suggest that the CCQ is sensitive to change in response to PR in this specific group of patients.