Skip to main content

Some NLM-NCBI services and products are experiencing heavy traffic, which may affect performance and availability. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. For assistance, please contact our Help Desk at info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Primary Care Respiratory Journal: Journal of the General Practice Airways Group logoLink to Primary Care Respiratory Journal: Journal of the General Practice Airways Group
. 2011 Jun 17;20(4):427–433. doi: 10.4104/pcrj.2011.00060

Nurse-led multidisciplinary programme for patients with COPD in primary health care: a controlled trial

Ann-Britt Zakrisson 1,2,3,*, Peter Engfeldt 1,2, Doris Hägglund 2, Sigrid Odencrants 2, Mikael Hasselgren 1,4,5, Mats Arne 4,5, Kersti Theander 5,6
PMCID: PMC6549878  PMID: 21687920

Abstract

Aim

To investigate the effects of a nurse-led multidisciplinary programme (NMP) of pulmonary rehabilitation in primary health care with regard to functional capacity, quality of life (QoL), and exacerbations among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Method

A 1-year longitudinal study with a quasi-experimental design was undertaken in patients with COPD, 49 in the intervention group and 54 in the control group. Functional capacity was assessed using the 6-minute walking test, and quality of life (QoL) was assessed using the Clinical COPD Questionnaire. Exacerbations were calculated by examination of patient records.

Results

No significant differences were found between the groups in functional capacity and QoL after 1 year. The exacerbations decreased in the intervention group (n = −0.2) and increased in the control group (n = 0.3) during the year after NMP. The mean difference of change in exacerbation frequency between the groups was statistically significant after one year (p=0.009).

Conclusions

The NMP in primary care produced a significant reduction in exacerbation frequency, but functional capacity and QoL were unchanged. More and larger studies are needed to evaluate potential benefits in functional capacity and QoL.

Keywords: COPD, management, exacerbations, nurse, primary care, rehabilitation, pulmonary, quantitative

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (323.9 KB).

Footnotes

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.


Articles from Primary Care Respiratory Journal: Journal of the General Practice Airways Group are provided here courtesy of Primary Care Respiratory Society UK/Macmillan Publishers Limited

RESOURCES