These findings suggest that 4 weeks of PR before lung cancer resection improves preoperative functional capacity and decreases the postoperative respiratory morbidity.

The aim of this study was to give an in-depth consideration of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients' subjective view of the impact of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on their lives. A systematic review in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and PsychInfo databases yielded 3306 articles, of which 387 were duplicates, 263 remained after screening abstract and title; of them, 4 were excluded (editorial or due to lacking of full text) remaining a total of 259 for full text reading. Among these, eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were finally included. The meta-ethnography approach synthesized an understanding of the studies, which focused on constructing interpretations and developed a 'line-of-argument' synthesis. The psychosocial support of PR contributes to the patients' strength and desire for participation and the health education leads to illness-perception learning. Both psychosocial support and health education develop patients' empowerment, while PR promotes opportunities to health transitions. The empowerment experienced by the patients in taking advantage of these opportunities leads to positive impacts over time. If they do not exploit these occasions, negative impacts arise in their life, which make the treatment assistance or follow-up more difficult. The COPD patients' feedback revealed that PR promotes a better 'way of life', well-being and important behavioural changes towards health promotion.

BackgroundSystemic inflammation plays an important role in the initiation, promotion, and progression of lung carcinogenesis. In patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), fibrinogen levels correlate with neoplasia. Here we compared the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) with chest physical therapy (CPT) on fibrinogen and albumin levels in patients with LC and previous inflammatory lung disease awaiting lung resection.MethodsWe conducted a randomized clinical trial with 24 patients who were randomly assigned to Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) and Chest Physical Therapy (CPT) groups. Each group underwent training 5 days weekly for 4 weeks. All patients were assessed before and after four weeks of training through clinical assessment, measurement of fibrinogen and albumin levels, spirometry, 6-minute Walk Test (6MWT), quality of life survey, and anxiety and depression scale. PR involved strength and endurance training, and CPT involved lung expansion techniques. Both groups attended educational classes.ResultsA mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant interaction between time (before and after intervention) and group (PR vs. CPT) on fibrinogen levels (F(1, 22) = 0.57, p < 0.0001) and a significant main effect of time (F(1, 22) = 0.68, p = 0.004). Changes in albumin levels were not statistically significant relative to the interaction effect between time and group (F(1, 22) = 0.96, p = 0.37) nor the main effects of time (F(1, 22) = 1.00, p = 1.00) and group (F(1, 22 ) = 0.59, p = 0.45). A mixed between-within subjects ANOVA revealed significant interaction effects between time and group for the peak work rate of the unsupported upper limb exercise (F(1, 22) = 0.77, p = 0.02), endurance time (F(1, 22) = 0.60, p = 0.001), levels of anxiety (F(1, 22) = 0.60, p = 0.002) and depression (F(1, 22) = 0.74, p = 0.02), and the SF-36 physical component summary (F(1, 22) = 0.83, p = 0.07).ConclusionPR reduced serum fibrinogen levels, improved functional parameters, and quality of life of patients with LC and inflammatory lung disease awaiting lung resection.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials RBR-3nm5bv.

This study offers evidence that home-based PR promotes benefits in the quality of life, breathlessness in activities of daily living, and exercise capacity in patients with severe and very severe COPD. Home-based PR must be considered as part of the treatment for patients who live far from hospitals even in severe COPD.