The role of physical activity in the context of pulmonary rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation is an important treatment for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although this intervention leads to large and clinically meaningful improvements in exercise capacity and quality of life, the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation on physical activity is controversial. Physical activity is lower in patients with COPD as compared to healthy age-matched controls and it is related to important health outcomes (e.g. increased risk of mortality and hospitalization). It is an important goal for rehabilitation programs to enhance physical activity to more normal levels in order to achieve the ultimate goal of rehabilitation 'to improve adherence to health enhancing behaviors'. This review discusses the role of physical activity in the context of pulmonary rehabilitation and possible ways to embed interventions geared to behavior change (i.e. to enhance physical activity) and exercise training (i.e. to enhance physical fitness) into comprehensive rehabilitation programs for patients with COPD.