Home telerehabilitation maintenance program for patients affected by COPD and CHF

Aim: COPD and CHF often coexist. There is a lack of studies about rehabilitative interventions in these patients. This multicenter RCT was conducted to study efficacy of an Home Maintenance Telerehabilitation Program (HMTP) compared to usual care. Methods: After inpatient rehabilitation, the patients were randomized into a treatment group (TG, n = 57) and a control group (CG,n= 56). The TG received nurse telemonitoring and an home rehabilitation program (≥3 sessions/week of mini-ergometer, muscle strengthening, walking sessions, pedometer, and 2/week phone or videocalls by the physiotherapist). At baseline(T0), at the end of HMTP (4 months-T4), and after 2 months of follow-up(T6) we evaluated: exercise tolerance, dispnea and muscle fatigue, blood oxygenation, physical activity profile and quality of life. Also, mortality, hospitalizations, drop-outs and side effects were evaluated. Results: 20% of patients in the TG and 37.5% in the CG were lost to follow-up (p=0.0365). The days free of hospitalizations were more higher in the TG than CG (p=0.0374). At T4, TG improved respect to CG: exercise capacity (Δ6mWT +60±133 vs -15±82, p=0.001),dyspnea (ΔBorg scale -0.4±1.2 vs +0.6±1.4, p Conclusions: Our HMPT was proved feasible and effective to maintain the improvement in rehabilitative outcomes and quality of life in patients with COPD and CHF. ** study partially founded by MINISTERO DELLA SALUTE ITALIANO.