Determinants of successful completion of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD

Researchers analyzed attendance data from 450 individuals who had participated in an eight-week pulmonary rehabilitation program. Those who completed all program visits had greater pain scores (as measured by the Short Form 36 Health Survey), lower FEV1 scores, and lower depression scores (as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory) and were less likely to be smokers at the point of enrollment. No differences were found between groups in disease severity, comorbidities, hospitalizations in the previous six months, functional capacity or basic demographics. In an analysis that included depression and pain scores, FEV1 and FVC results as well as smoking status at baseline, only smoking status was shown to be predictive of program completion.