Effects of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation on Psychosocial Factors Among Pulmonary and Cardiac Patients

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation is considered the standard of care for patients who have lung diseases or lung disease. Pulmonary rehabilitation is aimed to decrease symptoms, improve functional status, and improve quality of life. Limited studies have examined the effects of the rehabilitation programs on psychosocial factors such as stress, depression, anxiety, and social isolation. Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of the rehabilitation programs on the preceding psychosocial factors Methods: We included cardiac and pulmonary patients who were attending the rehabilitation programs at a single quaternary care academic hospital from March 2015 onwards. Participants who completed the rehabilitation programs were eligible to be included in this study. After Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, 583 pulmonary patients and 718 cardiac patients were included in this study. Data were analyzed using SAS v.9.3. Paired t-test was used to compare the PRFS scores at Intake and Discharge. Results: For the Cardiac group, there were significant changes in all PRFS scores (total distress score, depression, anxiety, hostility, and social isolation) from intake to discharge (P < 0.05). For the pulmonary group, there were significant decreases in psychosocial scores (total distress score, depression, anxiety, and hostility) from intake to discharge (P < 0.05). The change in social isolation score was not significant (P >.05). Conclusions: Rehabilitation programs are effective in decreasing the psychosocial scores for the pulmonary and cardiac patients. Further studies with larger sample sizes with a control group are needed to generalize the findings in this study.