Do supervised maintenance programmes improve health-related quality of life and exercise capacity in COPD patients after pulmonary rehabilitation?
Supervised maintenance programs post-pulmonary rehabilitation may improve quality of life and exercise capacity in COPD patients, though current evidence is limited by high risk of bias and small sample sizes.
This review suggests that supervised maintenance programmes for COPD patients after pulmonary rehabilitation are not associated with increased adverse events, may improve health-related quality of life, and could possibly improve exercise capacity at six to 12 months. Effects on exacerbations, hospitalisation and mortality are similar to those of usual care. However, the strength of evidence was limited because most included studies had a high risk of bias and small sample size. The optimal supervision frequency and models for supervised maintenance programmes are still unclear.
Malaguti et al. (Tue,) studied this question.