Factors affecting the success of pulmonary rehabilitation in asthma.

OBJECTIVE: The majority of patients with asthma limit their physical activity due to the fear of exercise dyspnea. Regular exercise, on the other hand, is currently suggested as one of the non-pharmaceutical treatment alternatives for patients with asthma since it improves their quality of life and symptom control. This study aimed to investigate the indicators of success in patients with asthma receiving pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). METHODS: A total of 131 patients with the diagnosis of asthma were included in the study. All patients attended an 8-week comprehensive, multidisciplinary, outpatient and individualized PR program. RESULTS: The factors related to the gains in dyspnea perception, exercise capacity, peripheral muscle strength, respiratory muscle strength and quality of life were evaluated. In the multivariate linear regression analysis, the gain in dyspnea perception is related to baseline dyspnea. The gain in exercise capacity is related to baseline exercise capacity and the amount of smoking. The gain in peripheral muscle strength is related to gender. The gain in respiratory muscle strength is related to age, and finally the gain in quality of life is related to baseline dyspnea and anxiety levels. CONCLUSIONS: Especially men, young people, heavy smokers, and those with low initial exercise capacity, high perception of dyspnea, and high anxiety are more likely to benefit from PR.

Long-term efficiency of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchiectasis, and asthma: Does it differ?

BACKGROUND: The long-term effects of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) and maintenance programs in obstructive pulmonary diseases have not been sufficiently investigated, particularly in diseases other than COPD. This retrospective study aimed to examine the long-term results of individualized comprehensive outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with obstructive pulmonary disease. METHODS: This study is a single-center, retrospective cohort study. Between 2010 and 2019, 269 patients with chronic airway obstruction were treated in our multidisciplinary PR center at a tertiary training and research hospital, and they were divided into three groups based on their diagnosis: COPD, bronchiectasis, and asthma. Patients' perceptions of dyspnea, exercise capacity, inspiratory and peripheral muscle strength, body composition, quality of life, and psychosocial status were compared at the beginning, end, and 12th and 24th months of PR. RESULTS: Improvements in dyspnea perception remained longer in asthmatics than in the other two groups. The increases in exercisecapacity in the bronchiectasis and asthma groups lasted two years. All groups maintained their respiratory muscle strength gains at the end of the second year. Improvements in hand grip strength in the COPD and bronchiectasis groups have been sustained for two years, but in the asthma group, enhancements were lost in the second year. Even after the second year, quality of life was still better than the baseline in all groups, despite a worsening in the first year. However, groups anxiety and depression improvements were not sustained after the first year. DISCUSSION: The long-term effectiveness of PR in patients with bronchiectasis and asthma was similar to that of COPD patients. Therefore,multidisciplinary, comprehensive PR programs should be integrated into the management of patients with bronchiectasis and asthma. We also recommend structured follow-up programs to maintain gains and to detect the need for rerehabilitation.

Multidimensional factors affecting medication adherence among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the effects of socioeconomic-, patient-, treatment-, condition- and health system-related factors on medication adherence in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). BACKGROUND: Medication adherence is essential for the management of chronic diseases. The World Health Organization created a Multidimensional Adherence Model (MAM) and showed that medication adherence is affected by a combination of numerous factors. DESIGN: A descriptive correlational study was conducted. METHODS: A total of 114 patients with COPD were included. Data were collected on five dimensions based on the MAM framework. Medication adherence, self-efficacy and symptoms were evaluated using the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale-7 (ARMS-7), COPD Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) and COPD Assessment Test (CAT), respectively. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlational statistics and structural equation modelling. The STROBE checklist was used. RESULTS: The ARMS-7 scores were associated with the body mass index of patients (F = 4.245, p = .017), smoke pack-years (r = .277, p = .004) and the CSES total score (ß = -0.249, p = .002) in patient-related factors. The ARMS-7 score was not associated with socio-economic and health system-related factors. The ARMS-7 score showed a significant correlation between COPD diagnosis duration (r = -.276, p = .003) and the total number of drugs (r = -.215, p = .022) in treatment-related factors. The ARMS-7 scores were associated with the number of comorbid illnesses of patients with COPD in condition-related factors (F = 3.533, p = .033). CONCLUSION: This study showed that medication adherence in COPD was mostly affected by patient-, treatment- and condition-related factors. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Healthcare professionals should establish training and counselling programs to increase the medication adherence level of patients, particularly for patients who are newly diagnosed, require multiple drugs and have comorbid diseases or low self-efficacy.

The effect of comprehensive multidisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation on 5-year survival in COPD: does maintaining a home exercise program improve survival?

BACKGROUND: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Therefore, optimizing medical therapy in the comprehensive management of the disease, as well as including pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in the treatment, is essential. The goal of our study was to determine the impact of PR on the survival of COPD patients. METHODS: Between 2007-2015, 509 COPD patients who completed the PR constituted the PR group, while 167 patients who applied but could not complete it after the initial evaluations formed the control group. In the PR group, dyspnea perception, exercise capacity, muscle strength, body composition, quality of life, psychosocial status, and i-BODE scores were assessed at the beginning and end of the program, whereas in the control group, these assessments could only be conducted at the beginning. Also, after PR, our PR participants have prescribed a home exercise program, and they were recalled to the hospital at the 3rd, 6th, 12th, 18th, and 24th months for follow-up visits. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement was found in almost all the data (except FEV1/FVC, BORG after exercise, and FFMI) after PR. There was a statistically significant difference in 5-year survival in favor of the PR group (p = 0.006), and in PR patients who accompanied the home exercise program vs. those who did not (p = 0.000). Also the gains in MRC (p = 0.003; OR: 2.20; CI: 1.319- 3.682), MEP (p = 0.041; OR: 1.02; CI: 1.001-1.035), and i-BODE (p = 0.006; OR: 0.914; CI: 0.857-0.974) increased the survival. DISCUSSION: Apart from incorporating PR into treatment in the comprehensive management of COPD, we demonstrated that maintaining a home exercise program for at least two years following PR increased 5-year survival significantly.

Maintenance of pulmonary rehabilitation benefits in patients with COPD: is a structured 5-year follow-up program helpful?

Background/aim: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has proven useful in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the benefits decrease over time. We evaluated the effects of a structured follow-up program after PR on patient pulmonary function, dyspnea, body composition, exercise capacity, quality of life, psychological status, i-BODE index, hospitalization status, 5-year survival rate. We explored whether this follow-up program could serve as a maintenance program. Materials and methods: COPD patients who completed PR attended follow-up visits over 5 years. We administered incremental (ISWT), endurance shuttle walk tests (ESWT), measured body (BMI), fat-free mass indices (FFMI), recorded modified Medical Research Council (mMRC), St. George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ), anxiety-depression scores. We also noted the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), the forced vital capacity (FVC), the forced midexpiratory flow (FEF25-75), hospitalization, survival rates before, after PR, and in years 1, 2, 3, 5. This was a retrospective observational study. Results: Thirty-three COPD patients with a mean age of 58 ± 8 years were enrolled. Twenty-seven (82%) were male. The mean FEV1 was 47 ± 16% of the predicted. After PR, the mMRC scale, SGRQ, anxiety, depression scores; i-BODE index; ISWT, ESWT results improved (all p < 0.001), with the improvements persisting through the first year. Patient body composition, pulmonary function did not differ from the baseline over the 5 years (except for a decrease in the FEF25-75 value in year 5; p = 0.003). The hospitalization rate, i-BODE index did not change significantly over the 5 years, the improvements in the ISWT, ESWT outcomes were preserved for 3 years (p = 0.013/0.005, respectively). The quality-of-life, anxiety scores deteriorated in year 1 (both p < 0.001) and year 3 (p = 0.005/0.010, respectively). The dyspnea, depression scores increased progressively over the 5 years. Conclusion: Structured follow-up programs with visits at 6-month intervals may effectively maintain improvements in COPD. Long-term randomized controlled studies are needed to verify these results.

Patients with COPD who underwent pulmonary rehabilitation in Turkey: prevalence, distribution, and mortality

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an effective, evidenced-based treatment. Despite its proven effect, it is still underused. The aim of this study was to present the number of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who underwent PR, general mortality percentages, the rate of patients prescribed PR by pulmonologists, and the distribution of institutions where PR was performed between 2008 and 2016 in Turkey. Materials and methods: The documents were obtained from Turkish Institution of Social Insurance. Ages, sexes, and numbers of patients with COPD who underwent PR between 2008 and 2016 were recorded. The number of patients with COPD who had been prescribed PR by physicians and the type of hospitals in which these patients underwent PR were identified. The general annual and the general total mortality rates between 2008 and 2016 among patients with COPD who underwent PR in 2008 were also determined. Results: The mean age ranges of patients with COPD who underwent PR were 67.4 ± 12.3 to 72.0 ± 13.2 years, and 62.2% (n = 60,852) of patients were male. The number of patients increased progressively from 3,214 to 18,664. The rate of patients prescribed PR programs between 2008 and 2016 was between 0.32% and 0.59% among all registered patients with COPD. Between 52.0% and 94.8% (5,488/10,549 and 16,792/17,707 patients, respectively) of the programs were prescribed by a pulmonologist, and 62.9% (n = 62,613) of patients received PR in secondary public hospitals. The general annual mortality rates were between 6.2% and 11.1% (115/1,855 and 358/3,214 patients) in patients who underwent PR in 2008, and the general total mortality rate was 52.8% (1,696/3,214 patients) over the 9-year period in the same patient group. Conclusion: PR was still an underutilized approach in Turkey between 2008 and 2016. The awareness of PR should be increased in our country. In order to achieve this, we think that PR should be within the scope of health policies.

Use of i-BODE index to determine efficacy of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients.

INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is well-proven approach on improving dyspnea, exercise intolerance which are two components of BODE index. But, PR is known to have minimal effect on pulmonary function which is another component of BODE index. There are few studies evaluating PR efficacy by using i-BODE index. Our aim was to evaluate efficacy of PR in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with i-BODE index and to investigate changes in i-BODE index according to GOLD 2011 combined assessment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 228 stable COPD patients who completed a comprehensive 8 week duration PR program were enrolled into this retrospective study. RESULT: The patients were with mean age of 63.3 ± 8.6 years and mean FEV1% was 38.6 ± 16.2%. According to combined assessment of COPD, 23 patients were group A, 30 patients were B, 31 patients were C and 144 patients were D. Baseline i-BODE scores correlated with body compositions, pulmonary function, dyspnea, exercise capacity, psychological status, quality of life, and age. i-BODE index score decreased from 4.7 ± 2.2 to 3.5 ± 1.8 after PR (p<0.001), improved by 26%. Significant improvements were found in dyspnea, quality of life and i-BODE index in more symptomatic patients (group B and D). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that changes in i-BODE scores after PR significantly correlated with improvements in dyspnea, exercise capacity and quality of life. i-BODE score could be a better predictor of efficacy of PR than some individual variables such as BMI or FEV1. Significant improvements in dyspnea sensation, quality of life and i-BODE index could be seen symptomatic patients in after PR.

Non-invasive ventilation during cycle exercise training in patients with chronic respiratory failure on long-term ventilatory support: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The role of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) during exercise training (ET) in patients with chronic respiratory failure (CRF) is still unclear. The aim of this study was to test whether NIV during ET had an additional effect in increasing the 6-min walking distance (6MWD) and cycle endurance time compared with ET alone. METHODS: All patients underwent 20 sessions of cycle training over 3 weeks and were randomly assigned to ET with NIV or ET alone. Outcome measures were 6MWD (primary outcome), incremental and endurance cycle ergometer exercise time, respiratory muscle function, quality of life by the Maugeri Respiratory Failure questionnaire (MRF-28), dyspnoea (Medical Research Council scale) and leg fatigue at rest. RESULTS: Forty-two patients completed the study. Following training, no significant difference in 6MWD changes were found between groups. Improvement in endurance time was significantly greater in the NIV group compared with the non-NIV training group (754 ± 973 vs 51 ± 406 s, P = 0.0271); dyspnoea improved in both groups, while respiratory muscle function and leg fatigue improved only in the NIV ET group. MRF-28 improved only in the group training without NIV. CONCLUSION: In CRF patients on long-term NIV and long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), the addition of NIV to ET sessions resulted in an improvement in endurance time, but not in 6MWD.

[Oral nutritional supplement in patients with COPD who completed PR program: six months and one year follow ups]. / Pulmoner rehabilitasyon programini tamamlayan KOAH tanili olgularda oral nütrisyonel destek; alti ay ve bir yillik takipleri.

INTRODUCTION: Oral nutritional supplement (ONS), an important part of multidisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program, is indicated according to body composition abnormalities in the patients with chronic obtructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We evaluated efficacy of oral nutritional supplement (ONS) during 5-8 months in patients with COPD who completed PR program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of 41 patients with stable COPD were recorded after the approval had been taken. Patients were grouped according to ONS duration. Group 1 consisted of patients who took ONS during 2 months, group 2: 5 months, group 3: 8 months. In all patients, pulmonary function tests, quality of life, exercise capacity and body composition datas were recorded before and after PR program, at 3rd, 6th month and in 20 patients 1 year follow-up visit. RESULT: In all groups, improvements after PR in exercise capacity, dyspnea, and body composition sustained at 3 and 6 month. Quality of life was protected in group 1 during six month, in other groups it was over values before PR despite loss at 6. month. All improvements after PR were similiar between groups. In 20 patients with one year follow up, while the improvements in dyspnea and body composition were preserved, both exercise capacity and quality of life decreased, exercise capacity was lower than values before PR. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with COPD, after multidisplinary PR program, the improvements in dyspnea, exercise capacity, quality of life were maintained during six months regardless of body composition and ONS duration. Furthermore, while the improvements in body composition, dyspnea, quality of life were protected, exercise capacity was found to be lower than baseline.

[Assessing the knowledge in primary health care following an educational course structured in the context of GARD chronic airway diseases national control program]. / Türkiye kronik hava yolu hastaliklari önleme ve kontrol programi (GARD Türkiye) birinci basamakta çalisan hekim egitimi bilgi degerlendirme sonuçlari.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases are common causes of disease in the community and account for considerable percent of the caseload in primary health care facilities. For this reason, it is important to question and improve the knowledge of primary health care physicians. This study is designed to assess the level of knowledge for bronchial asthma and COPD of the primary healthcare physicians, both before and immediately after an educational course structured in the context of GARD Chronic Airway Diseases National Control Program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participating physicians attended an intensive educational course on asthma and COPD. Twenty five item questionnaires for asthma and COPD were administered to the participants both before and immediately after the end of the course. Contribution of education to the level of knowledge was investigated by comparing the percentages of the correct answers in the pre-and post-test. RESULT: From 11 different cities, 1817 and 1788 primary health care physician were attended to the asthma and COPD educations, respectively. The accuracy rate of ≥ 75% was obtained from only 4 questions in pre-test asthma questionnaire. On the contrary, in 15 questions the accuracy rate was < 50%. The mean accuracy rate for the whole asthma test was 45.8%, and this rate raised to 69.6% after education course. The accuracy rate of ≥ 75% could not be obtained from any of the questions in pre-test COPD questionnaire. On the contrary, in 19 questions the accuracy rate was < 50%. The mean accuracy rate for the whole asthma test was 42.0%, and this rate raised to 71.3% after education course. CONCLUSIONS: It has been shown that, in primary care settings, the level of knowledge in asthma and COPD should be enhanced and that this increase can be achieved with an education course.

Comparison of the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and endurance training in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

INTRODUCTION: In severely disabled patients who are not capable of following formal pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) and/or tolerating higher training intensities, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been successfully utilized as a localized training method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this non-randomized controlled observational study 50 patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), who were allocated into two groups. Endurance training group (ET) (n= 27) and NMES group (n= 23). To compare the effects of NMES and ET on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), exercise capacity, muscle strength, dyspnea, psychological status, and body composition in patients with severe COPD. Before and after PR program, the study parameters were assessed using the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale, incremental and endurance shuttle walking tests (ISWT, ESWT), manual muscle testing (MMT), the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), bioelectrical impedance analysis, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS: After the PR program, walking distance and endurance time significantly increased in both groups (p< 0.001 for each), whereas the MRC scores of both groups significantly decreased (p< 0.001 for each). In the ET group, significant decreases were noted in all domains of SGRQ and HADS. In the NMES group, significant improvements were observed in the HADS scores and in all SGRQ domain except symptom domain. No significant differences were observed between the NMES and ET groups regarding the changes from baseline to after PR program in walking distance (p= 0.140), endurance time (p= 0.376), the MRC (p= 0.540), HRQOL (p> 0.05) and HADS (p> 0.05) scores, body-mass index (BMI) (p= 0.49), fat-free mass (FFM) (p= 0.50) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) (p= 0.94). CONCLUSION: NMES can be used as an effective treatment strategy in PR programs for peripheral muscle training in patients with severe COPD.

[Pulmonary rehabilitation efficiency in COPD patients with pulmonary hypertension]. / Pulmoner hipertansiyonlu KOAH'li olgularda pulmoner rehabilitasyon etkinligi.

INTRODUCTION: COPD is among the most common causes for secondary pulmonary hypertension (PH). Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is recommended in the standard treatment of COPD. In this study, efficiency of multidisciplinary PR in COPD patients with PH was examined. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 88 patients stable COPD patients who applied to our center between 2008-2013 were enrolled. Un-likely PH patients were grouped as Group 1 while possible and likely PH cases were accepted as Group 2. There were no other cause for PH. All the patients received patient-specific, multidisciplinary 8-week PR. Dyspnea perception was assessed via MRC dyspnea scale, health-related quality of life with S. George life quality questionnaire, exercise capacity via incremental shuttle walking test and endurance shuttle walking test and body composition via bioelectrical impedance test before and after PR program. RESULTS: In all the patients there were significant improvements in body composition (BMI p= 0.013), quality of life (SGRQ semp., activity, total p< 0.001), dyspnea perception (MRC p< 0.001) and exercise capacity (ISWTT, ESWT, VO2 peak p< 0.001) after PR program. Improvements in Group 2 were observed to be significantly greater. CONCLUSION: PR is an effective and safe option in COPD patients with PH. These patients should be directed to PH programs for supervised exercise training and chronic disease management and patient-specific PR programs should be established.

Predictors of reduced incremental shuttle walk test performance in patients with long post-COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: One of the common limitations after COVID-19 pneumonia is the decrease in exercise capacity. The identification of the factors affecting exercise capacity and the assessment of patients at risk are important for determining treatment strategy. This study was conducted to determine the predictors of decreased exercise capacity in long post-COVID-19 patients. METHODS: We investigated the association of exercise capacity as measured by the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) with age, sex, spirometric variables, respiratory and peripheral muscle strength, quality of life, fatigue, hospital anxiety depression scale, chest X-ray involvement, and hospitalization. The patients were divided into three groups: outpatients, inpatients, and ICU patients. Regression analysis was used to determine which parameters were significant predictors of exercise capacity. RESULTS: Of the 181 patients included in the study, 56 (31%) were female. The mean ISWT in percentage of predicted values (ISWT%pred) was 43.20% in the whole sample, whereas that was 52.89%, 43.71%, and 32.21% in the outpatient, inpatient, and ICU patient groups, respectively. Linear regression analysis showed that predictors of decreased ISWT%pred were sex (b = 8.089; p = 0.002), mMRC scale score (b = -7.004; p ≤ 0.001), FVC%pred (b = 0.151; p = 0.003), and handgrip strength (b = 0.261; p = 0.030). CONCLUSIONS: In long post-COVID-19 patients, sex, perception of dyspnea, restrictive pattern in respiratory function, and decrease in peripheral muscle strength are predictors of reduced exercise capacity that persists three months after COVID-19. In this context, we suggest that pulmonary rehabilitation might be an important therapy for patients after COVID-19.

Effect of nutritional status in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is considered a worldwide major public health problem. Weight loss, muscle and fat mass depletion are common nutritional problems in COPD patients and are determinant factors in pulmonary function, health status, disability and mortality. We aimed to assess the relationships between nutritional status and perception of dyspnoea, pulmonary function tests (PFT), exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) using the subjective global assessment (SGA) in COPD patients who were referred for pulmonary rehabilitation programme. METHODS: A total of 163 patients with stable COPD who are candidates for outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation programme were included in this study. Nutritional status for all patients was assessed by SGA. Association of SGA scores (A, B and C) and anthropometric measurements, PFT, dyspnoea scales (Medical Research Council and resting BORG scale), HRQoL (St. George Respiratory Questionnaire and Chronic Respiratory Diseases Questionnaire) and exercise testing (shuttle walking test) were studied for statistical significance. RESULTS: Based on SGA, 9.2% of patients were severely malnourished (SGA-C). There were significant decreases in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1 ) (P = 0.009), Medical Research Council scales (P < 0.001) and exercise capacity (incremental shuttle walking test (P = 0.001) and endurance shuttle walking test (P = 0.009)) in SGA-C. Deterioration in anthropometric measurements and HRQoL measures were observed in malnourished patients. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying the nutritional status and determining any requirement for nutritional supplement is an important component of comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation programme. SGA is an easy and practical method to assess nutritional status in pulmonary rehabilitation candidate patients with stable COPD.

Can exercise capacity assessed by the shuttle walk test predict the development of post-operative complications in patients with lung cancer?

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to assess the role of shuttle walk test in predicting post-operative complications in lung cancer resection surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A consecutive series of patients who were candidate for lung resection surgery with the diagnosis of early stage lung cancer were included to this study. All patients in this study evaluated for exercise capacity testing with shuttle walk test. RESULTS: Twenty for patients were included in this study. Mean age was 61.5 ± 8.6 years. Pneumonectomy, lobectomy, bilobectomy and wedge resection were performed in 11 (46%), 10 (42%), 2 (8%), and 1 (4%) patients, respectively. Complications occurred only in six patients. There was no statistically significant relationship between risk for development of post-operative complication and age, incremental shuttle walk test, endurance shuttle walk test and exercise capacity evaluated with peak VO2 (mL/kg/minute) (p> 0.05). CONCLUSION: Shuttle walk tests (incremental and enduronce) had a limited role in predicting post-operative complications in lung cancer resections.

Pulmonary rehabilitation in interstitial lung diseases.

INTRODUCTION: Interstitial lung diseases are characterised by dyspnea on exertion, low quality of life, cough and exercise intolerance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with interstitial lung disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from patients who were referred to pulmonary rehabilitation with the diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases were included to this study. Ten patients with interstitial lung disease participated to our outpatient, 8 weeks, comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation programme. Dyspnea was assessed with the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale; health related quality of life was assessed with the St.George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Exercise capacity was measured using the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) and endurance shuttle walk test (ESWT); anxiety and depression were assessed with the hospital anxiety depression scale (HADS). All parameters were recorded before and after pulmonary rehabilitation programme. RESULTS: Dyspnea sensation, anxiety and depression scores decreased after pulmonary rehabilitation (p: 0.023, p: 0.026, p: 0.039 respectively). Also impact domains of SGRQ significantly reduced (Z= 1.988; p= 0.047).The difference between median values of ISWT results before and after pulmonary rehabilitation was 60 meters. Although it was not statistically significant (Z= 1.863; p= 0.063), the level of increment was higher than the minimaly important clinical differance for ISWT. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation programmes were benefical for patients with interstitial lung diseases and it should be regarded as a standard care in this population from the early stages.

Relationship between exercise capacity and impulse oscillometry parameters after COVID-19 infections.

BACKGROUND: After COVID-19 infection, persistent exercise intolerance, changes in lung function have been shown. Our aim is to investigate the correlation between impulse oscillometry (IOS) parameters and exercise capacity by using incremental and endurance shuttle walk tests (ISWT, ESWT) and investigate the factors and parameters which might have an effect on both IOS parameters and exercise capacity tests. METHOD: The patients who had a history of COVID-19 were enrolled into cross-sectional study according to inclusion criteria. The IOS parameters, ISWT, ESWT, smoking status, time since COVID-19 diagnosis, length of hospital stay, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), body mass index (BMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI), dyspnea, hospital anxiety-depression and fatigue severity scores were recorded. RESULTS: The study comprised 72 patients, 71% of whom were male, with a mean age of 54 ± 10 years. After COVID-19 diagnosis, the median duration was 3 (min: 1, max: 5) months and 51 (71%) of the patients were hospitalized. The FEV1 and FVC values were in normal range. The area of reactance (AX), resonance frequency (Fres), reactance at 20 Hz (X20) and the difference between resonance at 20 and 5 Hz (R5-20) correlated with both ISWT and ESWT. The FEV1 correlated with all IOS parameters (p < 0.05). Reactance correlated with FFMI (p = 024, r = 0.267), different according to hospitalization (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: In COVID-19 survivors, there could be correlations between IOS parameters and exercise capacity; and between these parameters and FEV and FVC. Furthermore, small airway disease with normal spirometric functions could be related to decreased exercise capacity in COVID-19 survivors regardless of concomitant diseases, BMI, smoking status and time since COVID-19 diagnosis.

The relation between inspiratory muscle strength and bacterial colonization and other clinical factors in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate whether inspiratory muscle strength was associated with bacterial colonization and other clinical outcomes and whether bacterial colonization was associated with clinical outcomes in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB). Materials and Methods: Eighty-six patients were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of inspiratory muscle weakness and bacterial colonization. Parameters were compared between groups. Result: Bronchiectasis etiologies were post-infectious, Kartagener's syndrome, and primary ciliary dyskinesia. The median value of MIP was -68, and MEP was 89 cm H2O in all patients. Although the ratio of bacterial colonization was similar to patients without inspiratory muscle weakness, the inspiratory muscle weakness group had a higher number of females, lower FEV1, FVC, ISWT, CRQ, higher MRC, E-FACED, SGRQ, number of hospitalization (p<0.05). When colonized and non-colonized patients were compared, MIP, and MEP were similar in spite of adjusted BMI, age, and sex. FEV1, FVC, ISWT, and ESWT were lower, and E-FACED scores (p<0.05) were higher in colonized patients. Conclusions: Although inspiratory muscle strength was not associated with bacterial colonization in NCFB patients, it is an important factor that could be linked to disease severity, pulmonary functions, quality of life, and exercise capacity. Bacterial colonization was also associated with severe disease, deteriorated pulmonary functions, and exercise capacity.