**Appendix**

*Cardiorespiratory Fitness*

**12. Future directions**

**13. Conclusions**

with the maintenance program [147].

of this study need to be interpreted cautiously.

telephone support for telerehabilitation [156].

to the PR center, disruption of daily life routine, absence of family support, perception regarding gains from the PR program, have impact on patient's participation in the post PR programs. A recent multicenter RCT studying the long term (3 year) maintenance program after PR in severe COPD patients, showed a sustained beneficial effect on BODE index and 6MWD at 24 months. Although, the effect vanished beyond 2 years as at end of study only 66% of COPD patients were still adherent

Various methods adopted to provide therapy beyond a comprehensive program include weekly telephone contacts, home exercise training with or without weeklysupervised outpatient sessions and recurrent PR program [146, 148–151]. A recent meta-analysis analyzing post-PR exercise program in COPD patients suggested that such a program even though effective in maintaining a good exercise capacity with the 6 months of PR, loses its benefit beyond 1 year and has no impact on HRQoL [152]. The patient population and the interventions used were variable and results

Since the structure of the most effective maintenance program remains elusive, it is important at this time to encourage the COPD patients to continue with healthy lifestyle changes. This can be achieved by a concerted effort of the PR staff, family members, and patients' healthcare team. Those COPD patients who continue with the exercise routine and lifestyle changes they had learnt in the PR program tend to accumulate gains in physical endurance and psychological functioning [153].

Pulmonary rehabilitation has a major role in the management of patients with

A comprehensive multimodality pulmonary rehabilitation program is becoming an essential part of the management of COPD patients. It is not only cost effective but also scientifically proven to improve patients' symptoms and functionality. With a gradual increase in daily activity, COPD patients are able to achieve higher HRQoL compared to pharmacotherapy alone. Despite these proven benefits, widespread utilization of PR remains poor. Multiple factors, including; physician unfamiliarity of benefits of PR, patient compliance with the exercise regimen and insurance coverage contribute to this gap. With the increasing prevalence of COPD worldwide, a safe and effective option like PR needs to be actively promoted and

chronic lung conditions especially COPD. The need for more convenient and efficient programs using new technology would be beneficial for patients. Telerehabilitation to deliver rehabilitation services over telemedicine using internet or phone can provides services to patients who live in remote areas without access to transportation. Tele-rehabilitation allows video conferencing between a central control unit and a patient at home. This will also deliver health services to patients with disability who cannot travel long distances for rehabilitation programs. Both mobile phones and video conferencing have used in few studies deliver rehabilitation services. The studies have demonstrated good compliance, decrease in exacerbations and hospitalizations, improved exercise capacity and quality of life [154, 155]. Benefits of telemonitoring in COPD patients have been described in a systemic review that showed decrease in hospitalizations and emergency room visits using

**14**

utilized.

