Telerehabilitation and Unsupervised Treadmill Training Both Are Better Than Nothing for COPD Rehab

Pulmonary rehabilitation improves outcomes for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but only a small minority complete traditional rehabilitation programs. In this study, 120 patients (mean age, 64) with at least one COPD-related hospitalization or emergency department (ED) visit in the past year were randomized to receive telerehabilitation (30-minute exercise sessions 3–5 times weekly, monitored virtually by a physiotherapist), unsupervised treadmill training (an initial in-person training visit followed by an individualized exercise plan), or usual care. Patients were followed for 2 years.

With adjustment for imbalances in baseline characteristics, the telerehabilitation group and the unsupervised training group had…