Lu-Jie WEI
Clinical Medical School, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637500, Sichuan Province, China.
Shan SONG
Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637500, Sichuan Province, China.
Xiao-Bing CHEN
Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637500, Sichuan Province, China

Abstract:

Objective: To research the impact of remote home rehabilitation in the COVID-19 epidemic situation for individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, 74 patients with stable COPD were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 37) or a faraway group (n = 37). The control group got normal pulmonary rehabilitation in the outpatient setting, which included exercise and self-management instruction for 8 weeks, whereas the experimental group engaged in in-home rehabilitation for 8 weeks under the supervision of physiotherapists. Six-minute walking distance (6MWD), quality of life, physical activity, and self-efficacy were measured before the intervention, 8 weeks after the intervention, and again 6 months after the intervention for both groups. Results: After 8 weeks of intervention, there was no significant difference between the remote and control groups with respect to 6MWD, quality of life, or self-efficacy. After 6 months, the remote group's 6MWD was much higher than the control group's. This was the result of the 8-week intervention. Conclusion: Patients with COPD during the COVID-19 epidemic can benefit from remote home therapy in the same way as they would from traditional outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation, with improvements in 6MWD, quality of life, and self-efficacy,so it is expected to become a new and effective alternative mode of pulmonary rehabilitation.

Keywords:2019 Novel Coronavirus; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; pulmonary rehabilitation; remote rehabilitation; exercise training.