Table 1.

Characteristics of the studies included in this meta-analysis.

Authors/year of publication	Country	Mean age (years)	Male (%) PR/Con	Mean FEV1 (% or L) PR/Con	Type of study	Intervention		Follow-up
						PR	Con
Engstrom/1999 [37]	Sweden	PR: 66 ± 5.4	53.8/50	30.7/34.1	RCT	26	24	12M
		Con: 66.8 ± 5.4
Griffiths/2000 [14]	UK	PR: 68.2 ± 8.2	61.6/58.4	39.7/39.4	RCT	99	101	12M
		Con: 68.3 ± 8.1
Ringbaek/2000 [38]	Denmark	PR:61.8 ± 6.8	4.17/28.6	49.5/44.3	RCT	24	21	2M
		Con: 64.6 ± 7.7
Finnerty/2001 [39]	UK	PR:70.4 ± 8.0	69.4/65.5	41.2/41.2	RCT	36	29	6M
		Con: 68.4 ± 10.4
Boxall/2005 [15]	Australia	PR:77.6 ± 7.6	47.8/65.2	40.5/37.7	RCT	23	23	3M
		Con: 75.8 ± 8.1
Karapolat/2007 [40]	Turkey	PR: 65.1 ± 9.4	81.5/95.5	54.8/55	RCT	27	22	3M
		Con: 66.6 ± 8.4
Paz-Diaz/2007 [41]	USA	PR: 67 ± 5	60/85.7	34/30	RCT	10	14	2M
		Con: 62 ± 7
Eli/2008 [42]	Turkey	PR: 59.67 ± 8.6	15.4/15.4	47.77/46.28	RCT	39	39	3M
		Con: 58.08 ± 11.45
Donesky-cuenco/2009 [25]	USA	PR: 72.2 ± 6.5	28.6/26.7	51.2/44.4	RCT	14	15	3M
		Con: 67.7 ± 11.5
Fernandez/2009 [43]	Spain	PR: 66 ± 8	NA	33/38	RCT	27	14	12M
		Con: 70 ± 5
Theander/2009 [44]	Sweden	PR: 66 ± 2	25/71.4	35.1/32.3	RCT	12	14	3M
		Con: 64 ± 2
Vanwetering/2010 [45]	Netherlands	64 ± 8.7	61.5	54.7	RCT	16	14	4M
Yeh/2010 [23]	USA	PR: 65 ± 2	60/60	53/47	RCT	5	5	3M
		Con: 66 ± 6
Chan/2011 [46]	China	PR: 73.6 ± 7.5	88/87	0.91/0.89	RCT	69	67	3M
		Con: 73.6 ± 7.4
Deering/2011 [47]	Ireland	PR: 67.7 ± 5.3	NA	48.5/45.8	RCT	25	19	3M
		Con: 68.6 ± 5.5
Gottlieb/2011 [16]	Denmark	PR: 74.1	31.8/35	64.27/67.05	RCT	22	20	18M
		Con: 73.2
Baumann/2012 [48]	Germany	PR: 63 ± 11	62.2/54.5	47/45	RCT	37	44	6M
		Con: 65 ± 8
De Souto Araujo/2012 [49]	Brazil	PR: 56.9 ± 7.9	61.5/72.7	39.2/45.1	RCT	13	11	2M
		Con: 71.1 ± 10.1
Chan/2013 [18]	China	PR: 71.7 ± 8.2	99/87	0.89/0.89	RCT	70	67	6M
		Con: 73.6 ± 7.4
Gurgun/2013 [17]	Turkey	PR: 66.8 ± 9.6	100/100	41.9/39.3	RCT	15	16	2M
		Con: 67.8 ± 6.6
Amin/2014 [50]	USA	PR: 66.8 ± 8.1	33/60	63.6/60.8	RCT	9	10	3M
		Con: 72 ± 10.1
Cameron-Tucker/2014 [52]	Australia	PR: 64.5 ± 9.13	53/54	NA	RCT	43	41	1.5M
		Con: 67.1 ± 9.41
De Sousa Pinto/2014 [54]	Brazil	PR: 68.9 ± 9.2	95.7/94.4	33.5/34.5	RCT	23	18	3M
		Con: 71.9 ± 7.6
Gupta/2014 [27]	India	PR: 52.5 ± 3.9	96/96	51.1/49.6	RCT	25	25	3M
		Con: 52 ± 4.1
Ng/2014 [20]	China	PR: 74.16 ± 6.46	93.6/88.8	1.1/1.23	RCT	94	98	6M
		Con: 74.13 ± 6.81
Niu/2014 [21]	China	PR: 59.7 ± 2.76	95/90	41.9/43.7	RCT	20	20	6M
		Con: 61.3 ± 2.89
Wootton/2014 [57]	Australia	PR: 69 ± 8	58.9/58.3	43/43	RCT	95	48	2M
		Con: 68 ± 9
Fukuoka/2016 [26]	Japan	PR: 74.6 ± 6.7	100/66.7	0.93/1.2	RCT	5	3	0.5M
		Con: 77 ± 7
Ranjita/2016 [29]	India	PR: 53.69 ± 5.66	NA	NA	RCT	36	36	3M
		Con: 54.41 ± 5.4
De Roos/2017 [53]	Netherlands	PR: 69.4 ± 9.7	31/38	68/65	RCT	26	26	2.5M
		Con: 71 ± 9.4
Kaminsky/2017 [28]	USA	PR: 68 ± 7	33/45	43/42	RCT	21	22	3M
		Con: 68 ± 9
Thokchom/2018 [30]	India	PR: 57.8 ± 2.68	76.2/80	1.24/1.22	RCT	21	20	3M
		Con: 60.65 ± 1.84
Varas/2018 [56]	Spain	PR: 69.5 ± 7.4	85.7/68.4	45.8/52.3	RCT	21	19	12M
		Con: 64.8 ± 9.1
Zhu/2018 [24]	China	PR: 67.87 ± 5.22	93/97	35.11/40.77	RCT	30	30	9M
		Con: 68.1 ± 6.57
Lahham/2019 [51]	Australia	PR: 68 ± 9	58.6/58.6	0.9/0.92	RCT	29	29	6M
		Con: 67 ± 10
Wang/2019 [22]	China	PR: 67.83 ± 5.32	88.5/87.5	55.46/62.55	RCT	26	24	3M
		Con: 67.86 ± 5.98
Yudhawati/2019 [31]	Indonesia	PR: 64.4 ± 10.4	NA	43.53/40.87	RCT	15	15	3M
		Con: 65.33 ± 8.1
Kantatong/2020 [19]	Thailand	PR: 69.68 ± 7.67	60/76	68.21/68.37	RCT	25	25	3M
		Con: 67.48 ± 10.17
Ko/2020 [55]	China	PR:76 ± 8	99/96	49/46	RCT	68	68	12M
		Con: 74 ± 7

PR: pulmonary rehabilitation; Con: control; RCT: randomized controlled trials; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in one second; L: litre; Y: years; M: months; NA: not available.