Effect of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on Pulmonary Function Measures among COPD patients at Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Thrissur, Kerala

The study sought to ascertain if and how lung function assessments were enhanced in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Objectives: Measure pulmonary function in COPD patients after the intervention, compare pre- and post-rehabilitation levels of knowledge and practice, and correlate pretest scores on measures of knowledge and practice with certain socio-demographic and clinical data variables. Methodology: The study indicates that the Betty Neuman system model was used. With a single group, the study used a pretest-posttest pretest procedure using a quasi-experimental methodology. Thirty chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients were selected at random from the pulmonology outpatient department. Using the Borge dyspnoea scale (degree of breathlessness), heart rate, and oxygen saturation, pulmonary function measurements were evaluated before and after the intervention using a standardised 6-minute walk test. Before learning about pulmonary rehabilitation and breathing exercises, participants were given a structured knowledge questionnaire and a practice checklist as a pretest. When the four weeks were over, the same practice checklist and structured knowledge questions were used to give the posttest. Results: The study's results showed that 46.7% of the participants were male, 86.7% were in the age bracket of 61–70, 43.3% had only completed elementary school, and 0% had completed high school.100% of subjects were married, 66.7% of subjects resides at rural area and 33.3% at urban area. 26.7% were industrial workers, 30% of COPD patients had the monthly income below Rs 5000, 33.3% had above 6 years of duration of illness.76.7% of COPD patient had history of smoking. None of them had no previous exposure to pulmonary rehabilitation. The overall mean posttest knowledge score (18.306.78, t29=3.038, p0.000) and practice score (15.935.40, t29=1.67, p0.000) showed a substantial increase compared to the pretest knowledge score of 6.175.40 and the practice score of 8.278.12. The 6-minute walk test, which gauges how pulmonary rehabilitation affects pulmonary function measures in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was shown to have a statistically significant correlation (p=0.001) with pulmonary function measurements. Association of pretest level of knowledge score with educational status is highly significant (p=0.001) and practice score was moderately significant (p=0.002) with measures to relive breathing difficulty. Conclusion: There is a great need to educate the COPD patients about pulmonary rehabilitation to improve the pulmonary function measures.