2001 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
EFFECTS OF OUTPATIENTPULMONARY REHABILITATION ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF QUALITYOF LIFE AS MEASURED BY THE SF-36
Jennifer Fleenor,Tracie Hardegree, Respiratory Therapy Program Indiana University, DebbieKoehl BS, RRT, Methodist Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Patient Education Program,Linda Van Scoder EdD, RRT, Respiratory Therapy Program, Schools of Allied HealthSciences & Medicine, Indiana University.
INTRODUCTION In theUnited States, approximately 12.5 million people suffer from chronic bronchitisand 1.65 million from emphysema, totaling 14 million people with COPD.The belief that there is little hope for improvement in patients withadvanced chronic respiratory disease is no longer true because pulmonary rehabilitationis now part of the clinical management and health maintenance of these patients.Its affect on psychological and physiological aspects of quality of life canbe measured using the short form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Our null hypothesisfor this study was that pulmonary rehabilitation produces no change in psychologicalor physiological aspects of quality of life as measured by the SF-36.
METHODS The 87 subjectswere a convenience sample of patients in an outpatient rehabilitation program,between the ages of 45 and 80. The SF-36 scores were taken before and afterpulmonary rehabilitation. We considered results for the eight domains on theSF-36 test: physical functioning, role functioning, bodily pain, general health,vitality, social functioning, role emotional and mental health. The paired groupst-test was used to compare pre and post-rehab scores, and the independentgroups t-test was used for gender comparisons. The significance levelwas p < .05
RESULTS The SF-36 scores showeda significant improvement in seven of the eight domains. The change in the bodilypain domain was not significant. There was not a significant difference in scoresbetween males and females.
CONCLUSION The subjectsshowed significant improvement in their psychological and physiological statusfollowing pulmonary rehabilitation. The null hypothesis was rejected.
Pre and Post RehabilitationSF-36 Scores
| Domain | Pre RehabMean | Post RehabMean | p-Value |
| PhysicalFunctioning | 31.06 | 42.49 | 0.000 |
| Role Functioning | 32.66 | 54.60 | 0.000 |
| Bodily Pain | 69.32 | 70.84 | 0.509 |
| General Health | 44.28 | 49.43 | 0.098 |
| Vitality | 40.02 | 52.06 | 0.000 |
| Social Functioning | 62.64 | 78.91 | 0.000 |
| Role Emotional | 49.48 | 74.86 | 0.000 |
| Mental Status | 68.79 | 75.99 | 0.000 |