[Going forward--five years experience in pulmonary rehabilitation]

Pulmonary rehabilitation is regarded as a crucial component of the therapeutic armamentarium in chronic lung disease. Ten years ago the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Service at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center (SZMC) was established as part of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center. Over the last six years this service operates independently within the physiotherapy center under the supervision of the Pulmonary Institute, in collaboration with the social and nutritional services.

To evaluate the efficacy of pulmonary rehabilitation in improving the patients' quality of life and functional capacity.

Prospective follow-up of patients referred for pulmonary rehabilitation at the SZMC between the years 2009-2013. The participants were required to complete a pulmonary function test, a 6 minute walk test (6MWT) and a quality of life questionnaire, the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). The SGRQ and the 6MWT were readministered after completion of the program.

During the follow-up period 415 patients underwent pulmonary rehabilitation at SZMC, of them 330 completed a series of at least 12 sessions. Complete data pertaining to the 6MWTwas obtained for 276 subjects. Participation in the program led to an improvement of 57.5 meters (p < 0.001) in the walking distance. Complete data regarding the SGRQ were available for 94 patients. Completion of the pulmonary rehabilitation program led to a decrease of 8.9 points in the SGRQ (p < 0.001).

Our results indicate that pulmonary rehabilitation was clinically useful as well as statistically significant in improving the functional capacity and quality of life among patients with chronic lung diseases.