Pulmonary rehabilitation: future directions

Pulmonary rehabilitation is now an established standard of care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although pulmonary rehabilitation has no appreciable direct effect on static measurements of lung function, it arguably provides the greatest benefit of any available therapy across multiple outcome areas important to the patient with respiratory disease, including dyspnea, exercise performance, and health-related quality of life. It also appears to be a potent intervention that reduces COPD hospitalizations, especially when given in the periexacerbation period. The role of pulmonary rehabilitation within the larger schema of integrated care represents a fruitful area for further research.