TUBERCULOSIS AND REHABILITATION: DYNAMIC PHYSICAL RESTORATION OF PATIENTS WITH ACTIVE DISEASE

In a study carried out over a period of seven years, 454 patients with active tuberculosis were placed on a program of intensive physical exercise, combined with chemotherapy and antibiotics. In the initial group of 155 patients studied from 1956-1960, the intensive rehabilitation program was not instituted until the last two months of the patient's stay in hospital, whereas in a late phase of the study 1960-1963 the dynamic physical restoration program was instituted early for 299 patients and was carried on simultaneously with chemotherapy and antibiotics. The beneficial results of these programs appear to show that the concept of minimum exercise and prolonged bed rest in the hospital and a prolonged convalescent period after discharge, is no longer justified.