Patients’ Experiences and Opinions on Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Use of It as a Tool of Palliative Care on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

Background: Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive, and life-limiting condition. It has no cure hence it is vital to establish effective methods of improving the quality of remaining life in these patients. One of the key components of improving quality of life is pulmonary rehabilitation. However little research has been conducted to understand the perspectives and lived experience of people with IPF on pulmonary rehabilitation. Hence, we aim to fill this gap in the existing literature. Methods: We sought to understand how patients coped with pulmonary rehabilitation. A patient-centred approach was used to explore the physical and psychological impact of pulmonary rehabilitation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by experienced academics. Interviews used a topic guide but mostly led by the participants. An inductive thematic approach was used to analyse data, allowing us to identify common themes in the participants’ experiences. Results: Of fifty invited participants, ten took part in the study (aged 53 - 81 years). Inductive analysis of interviews identified seven second-order themes and eleven first-order themes, represented by two General Dimensions: “motivation” and “Advantages and disadvantages”. Overall, participants found the pulmonary rehabilitation programme to be useful and they experienced an increase in their quality of life following rehabilitation.