WHAT'S NEW
- Mortality rate reduced by more than 40%
- Decrease in hospitalization frequency and duration
- Improved quality of life and functional capacity
Patients suffering from COPD, initiating supervised pulmonary rehabilitation during or within four weeks after admission to the hospital, reduce their mortality rate. Moreover, their hospitalization length decreases, there are less readmissions and improved quality of life in contrast to patients who receive conventional healthcare. This is the conclusion of Danish researchers after a meta-analysis including thirteen randomized clinical trials with 634 COPD patients recovering from pulmonary exacerbations.