Effects of a 6-month Outpatient Rehabilitation Program Including Structured Exercise Training on Participation in Physical Activities in Daily Life in Lung Transplant Recipients

At present it is not clear whether it is necessary for lung transplant recipients to participate in a rehabilitation program including structured exercise training. Observations from available studies suggest that exercise capacity and health status improve following transplantation but remain impaired when compared with values of age-matched reference groups. No differences were found between participants of rehabilitation programs and patients engaging in usual daily activities. One should be cautious however to draw definite conclusions from these findings since they rest solely on results of cross-sectional investigations or single group studies. No information on functional outcomes such as participation in physical activities in daily life is currently available in lung transplant recipients. In order to answer the question if it is necessary for lung transplant recipients to participate in an outpatient rehabilitation program including structured exercise training it is our purpose to conduct a randomized clinical trial to investigate the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation after transplantation.

• Interventions: Both groups will receive counseling to engage in regular physical activity. Patients in the intervention group will additionally follow a standardized outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program for 6 months starting immediately after discharge from hospital.
• Hypothesis: Our alternative hypothesis is that intensive post transplant rehabilitation does enhance improvements in functional status and participation in physical activities in daily life after transplantation.
• Outcomes: Participation in physical activities in daily life will be the primary outcome. Physical component summary scale of the SF-36, exercise capacity and peripheral muscle function will be secondary outcomes. Outcomes will be assessed on discharge from the hospital and again three, six and twelve months after discharge.
• Treatment failure: Patients in the control group receiving only counseling will be allowed to discontinue the assigned treatment and will receive respiratory rehabilitation including exercise training if functional outcomes do not improve or participation in physical activities in daily life does not increase within the first three months of the intervention period. The treatment groups will be compared both as randomized (according to intention to treat) and with crossover cases excluded.