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Updated: Nov 24, 2025
Home-Based Prescribed Pulmonary Exercise in Patients with Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Published on: August 24, 2019
Exercise Training for Pulmonary Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Alsaeedi L Albanaqi1,2, Gholam Rasul Mohammad Rahimi3, Neil A Smart2
1Turaif General Hospital, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Background:
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a chronic disease with a notable health burden; regular exercise may improve specific health outcome measures.
Objective:
The objective of this meta-analysis was to estimate the effectiveness of exercise training for PH patients.
Data Sources:
PubMed, CINAHL, SportDiscuss and Google Scholar databases and reference lists of included studies were searched.
Study Selection:
The selection criteria were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) employing an exercise training intervention. Data were extracted from the entered studies for analysis. The primary outcomes were peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), anaerobic threshold (AT), 6-minute walk distance (6-MWD), and quality of life (QoL) measures (physical component score and mental component score). The analysis included 9 articles with a total of 302 participants: intervention (n = 154), and control (n = 148).
Results:
In the pooled analysis, improvements were seen in: VO2peak, mean difference (MD) 2.79 ml/kg/min (95% CI 2.00 to 3.59, p < 0.00001); AT, MD 107.83 ml/min (95% CI 39.64 to 176.00, p = 0.002); and 6-MWD, MD 46.67 meters (95% CI 32.39 to 60.96, p < 0.00001). Differences were found in the SF-36 physical component score MD 3.57 (95% CI 2.04 to 5.10, p < 0.00001) and the SF-36 mental component score MD 3.92 (95% CI 1.92 to 5.91, p = 0.001).
Conclusion:
This meta-analysis demonstrates exercise training has a beneficial effect on fitness, walking performance, and self-reported QoL in PH patients.
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