Effect of home-based pulmonary rehabilitation on health-related quality of life, lung function, exercise tolerance, and dyspnea in chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder patients in a tertiary care center in South India

CONTEXT: Home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) can increase compliance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). There is paucity of data on this in India. AIMS: To study the effectiveness of home-based PR on lung function, health-related quality of life, exercise tolerance and dyspnea among patients with COPD. SETTING: The Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Christian Medical College, Vellore. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental study which included COPD patients who found hospital-based PR impractical. Those willing for home-based PR constituted the intervention group and those unwilling, constituted the control group. Both groups received standard of care otherwise. At 6 weeks, forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1), St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), six-minute walk test distance (6MWD), COPD assessment test (CAT) score and modified Borg dyspnea scale were compared with their baseline values. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Student paired t-test. RESULTS: A total of 42 patients completed the study, 21 in each arm. The baseline characteristics were comparable. The improvement in FEV1 was 90 ml in the intervention group and 4 ml in the control group (P = 0.01). There was no significant difference in 6MWD change. SGRQ score, Borg scale and CAT score improved significantly by 10.4, 2.4, and 3.4, respectively, in the intervention group when compared to the control group (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Home-based PR effectively provides tangible benefits in FEV1, QOL, exercise tolerance and dyspnea. It should be offered to those who are unable to avail institution-based PR, especially in this era of COVID pandemic.