Pulmonary Rehabilitation: A Look Back, a Look Forward

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a comprehensive approach to the management of patients with chronic lung disease that encompasses exercise, education, and psychosocial support. The development of PR programs began in the mid-20th century with the appreciation that exercise provided real benefit in chronic lung disease and that effective disease management involved patient education focused on medications, lifestyle changes, and lifelong regular exercise. Initially PR was primarily facility-based, but today PR is extending into the home with telemedicine, and this is encouraging a real partnership of patients and professionals supporting self-management. The evidence base supporting PR as a safe and effective modality has grown exponentially over the last 4 decades, and PR is strongly endorsed by virtually all the major professional societies. Importantly, PR has also clearly been shown to be cost-effective. Challenges remain, however. Access is still very limited for a variety of reason (logistics, financial, patient motivation) that need to be addressed. More focused and personalized exercise programs and monitoring strategies that encourage a patient's lifetime commitment to the principles of PR need to be developed and refined. The opportunity to really impact important clinical outcomes exists with PR, and this needs to be exploited.