Pulmonary rehabilitation
“Pulmonary rehabilitation is one of the most vital management issues with chronic lung disease,” Riddhi Upadhyay, MD, of Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill., said during her CHEST 2020 presentation on improving PAH rehabilitation referral rates.
“We know it improves exercise capacity, lung function, and decreases total hospital stays and recurrent hospital admission,” she explained. And studies have shown that PAH rehabilitation “also reduces frailty and improves quality of life.”
In their study, Dr. Upadhyay and colleagues showed that when pulmonary rehabilitation is added to the discharge order set, referrals increase by 60%.
They attribute their success to “recognizing the benefits of pulmonary rehab and understanding where interventions are required.”
An encouraging takeaway from the TRACE data is that it established that daily activity can be tracked in this patient population. “We think we might need to encourage these patients to get active, maybe combine the drug with a formal rehabilitation program; that might increase motivation,” Dr. Howard said.
“People don’t necessarily do more just because they can,” he noted.
Dr. Howard has received consulting fees from Actelion.
A version of this article originally appeared on Medscape.com.