Pulmonary hypertension patient perspectives toward pulmonary rehabilitation

Abstract

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a supervised exercise program for patients with chronic lung disease. Among patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), PR has been shown to improve both quality of life and exercise capacity. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of PR participation among PH patients, patient perspectives regarding PR, and to identify potential barriers to PR participation. We performed a cross-sectional survey of patients with self-reported PH who attended the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) conference in June 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia, and patients within the PHA listserv. A total of 429 participants completed the survey and were enrolled in the study. The average age of participants was 61 ± 14 years with 83% of participants identifying as female, 51% of patients self-reported as having group 1 PH. Among patients who completed the survey, 41% had previously attended a PR program. Of those who had completed a PR program, 83% reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the program and 86% reported that they would recommend PR to other PH patients. After completion of a PR program, 76% of patients reported an improvement in their quality of life and 88% reported improvement in exercise capacity. Among the patients who had not previously participated in PR (n = 254), 63% reported an interest in participation while 64% cited a lack of discussion from their treatment team as the primary reason for the lack of PR participation. Limitations of the study include sampling and response bias. According to this cross-sectional survey, the majority of PH patients who have participated in PR report improvement in both quality of life and exercise capacity and would recommend PR to other PH patients. The majority of PH patients who have not participated in PR were interested in participation and cited a lack of discussion with their treatment team as one of the primary reasons for the lack of participation. PR is associated with self-reported improvements in quality of life and exercise capacity but remains underutilized among patients with PH.