Effectiveness of health ecology model-based pulmonary rehabilitation for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a preliminary study

Background Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) significantly impairs patients’ quality of life and survival. While pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is well-established for stable COPD, evidence for its effectiveness during and after hospitalization for AECOPD remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a health ecology model (HEM)-based multidimensional PR intervention compared to conventional care in patients with AECOPD. Methods This prospective randomized controlled trial enrolled 46 AECOPD patients who, after individual matching, were randomly allocated to either an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group received conventional care supplemented by an HEM-based intervention comprising physiological (assisted sputum removal, progressive breathing exercises, physical training, home-based PR guidance), psychological (peer and caregiver support), and environmental (temperature and humidity regulation) components. The control group received conventional care only, including health education, oxygen therapy, and breathing training during hospitalization. The intervention period spanned from the second day after admission to discharge, with FEV1% reassessed at 8 weeks post-discharge. Outcomes included predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1%), 6-min walk test (6MWT), modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale (mMRC), and COPD Assessment Test (CAT). Between-group and within-group differences were analyzed using Student’s t-test, with statistical significance set at p 0.05. Results The experimental group demonstrated significantly greater improvements than the control group in mMRC scores (mean reduction 1.48 vs. 0.87 points, p = 0.001) and FEV1% (mean increase 6.72% vs. -0.02%, p = 0.025). Both groups showed significant within-group improvements in CAT scores and 6MWT distance, but no significant between-group differences were observed for these outcomes. All improvements in the experimental group exceeded established minimal clinically important differences (MCID). Conclusion The HEM-based multidimensional PR intervention produced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in lung function and dyspnea in patients hospitalized with AECOPD. These findings support integrating multi-level interventions—including physiological, psychological, and environmental components—into standard care to optimize outcomes in domains that show limited response to conventional rehabilitation alone.