RESPIRATORY REHABILITATION, EXERCISE CAPACITY AND QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN CHRONIC AIRWAYS DISEASE IN OLD-AGE

Respiratory rehabilitation improves exercise capacity and quality of l ife in younger patients but is untried in the aged. We aimed to: (a) a ssess repeatability of the 6-minute walk test, factors affecting it an d its relation to quality of life in elderly patients with chronic obs tructive airways disease (COAD); (b) assess compliance of such patient s with an intensive respiratory rehabilitation protocol (c) pilot the assessment of the effect of respiratory rehabilitation on the 6-minute walk test in these patients. Seventeen subjects with stable, symptoma tic GOAD were recruited, 15 (six men), 70-89 (mean 76) years, complete d the study. Mean (standard deviation) 1-second forced expiratory volu me (FEV(1)) = 49 (5)% predicted. Six-minute walk tests were repeated s ingle-blind, 2-10 days apart. Quality of life was measured using Guyat t respiratory questionnaire. Patients underwent 12 weeks incremental r espiratory rehabilitation (x 4/day step-ups, unweighted arm raises, in flating balloons). Baseline 6-minute walk was repeatable and was corre lated with log Guyatt dyspnoea score (r = 0.65, p = 0.006). In multipl e regression neither age nor FEV(1) predicted walk distance, but the f ollowing were independent predictors of pre-programme 6-minute walk di stance: body mass index, maximal expiratory mouth pressure; calorie in take. Mean (SEM) 6-minute walk distance after-rehabilitation was great er than baseline (p = 0.003). Elderly patients with GOAD tolerate inte nsive respiratory rehabilitation and a controlled, blinded study is ne eded.