Objective To determine if supervised hospital-based exercise can maintain the benefits of functional exercise ability and quality of life gained from a pulmonary rehabilitation program in COPD.Methods A prospective and randomized study was carried out. Following completion of an eight-week pulmonary rehabilitation program in hospital, 43 COPD patients were recruited and randomized into either a supervised group ( supervised, every 10 days, hospital-based exercise, 22 cases ) or a control group ( unsupervised home exercise,21 cases) and followed for 12 months. Measurements were taken at baseline and 12 months later. Exercise measurements include six-minute walk test( 6MWT) and pulmonary function test. Quality of life was measured using the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire ( CRQ) . Results After 12 months of different exercise program,6MWT in the supervised group was significantly longer than that in the unsupervised group[ ( 532. 0 ±168. 4) m vs ( 485. 0 ±151. 6) m, P lt; 0. 05] . There was no significant difference in pulmonary function between the two groups. The quality of life of the supervised group was higher than that of the unsupervised group( 114. 6 ±20. 8 vs 105. 6 ±21. 7, P lt;0. 05) . Conclusions After the completion of pulmonary rehabilitation program, a supervised, every 10 days, hospital-based following exercise program can maintain better functional exercise capacity and quality of life compared to home exercise in COPD patients.
