Clinical Outcomes and Inflammatory Responses of the Frequent Exacerbator in Pulmonary Rehabilitation: A Prospective Cohort Study

Figures & data

Table 1. Patient characteristics.

Variable	Frequent (n = 50)	Infrequent (n = 35)
Age (years)^a	69.6 ± 7.0	69.3 ± 7.3
% Males^b	58%	57%
Body Mass (kg)^a	77.3 ± 17.7	83.0 ± 18.9
GOLD grade, n (%)^c
A	0 (0)	4 (11)
B	0 (0)	31 (89)
C	0 (0)	0 (0)
D	50 (100)	0 (0)
FEV1 %predicted^d	43 (36-58)	55 (45-67)
Charlson Comorbidity Index^a	4.2 ± 1.3	4.2 ± 1.2
Current smokers^b	32%	23%
mMRC, n (%)^c
0	0 (0)	2 (6)
1	0 (0)	2 (6)
2	3 (6)	7 (20)
3	16 (32)	9 (25)
4	31 (62)	15 (43)

^a Data presented as mean ± SD.

^b Data presented as a % of total population.

^c Data presented as total number (% of group).

^d Data presented as median (25th percentile-75th percentile).

Figure 1. Pulmonary rehabilitation completion rates between frequent and infrequent exacerbators. Data presented as % of group to attend 12 or more pulmonary rehabilitation classes. *Significant difference between groups (p < 0.05).

Table 2. Clinical outcomes following pulmonary rehabilitation.

Clinical outcome	Frequent	Infrequent	p-values Time Time × group Group
ISWT			<0.001**
Pre-Rehab	258 ± 149	262 ± 124	0.390
Post-Rehab	319 ± 147	303 ± 121	0.860
ESWT			<0.001**
Pre-Rehab	347 ± 522	327 ± 325	0.207
Post-Rehab	585 ± 588	794 ± 521	0.276
Dyspnoea			<0.001**
Pre-Rehab	2.60 ± 1.28	2.45 ± 1.05	0.453
Post-Rehab	3.58 ± 1.43	3.74 ± 1.14	0.899
Emotion			<0.001**
Pre-Rehab	4.52 ± 1.37	4.34 ± 1.30	0.452
Post-Rehab	4.98 ± 1.09	5.04 ± 1.17	0.861
Fatigue			<0.001**
Pre-Rehab	3.70 ± 1.34	3.83 ± 1.42	0.206
Post-Rehab	4.09 ± 1.12	4.66 ± 1.06	0.291
Mastery			<0.001**
Pre-Rehab	4.34 ± 1.58	4.67 ± 1.43	0.837
Post-Rehab	4.99 ± 1.29	5.38 ± 1.10	0.345
Anxiety			0.197
Pre-Rehab	6.45 ± 4.79	7.96 ± 4.32	0.142
Post-Rehab	6.55 ± 3.61	6.58 ± 4.04	0.503
Depression			0.017*
Pre-Rehab	6.09 ± 4.36	7.33 ± 4.56	0.538
Post-Rehab	5.41 ± 3.83	6.00 ± 4.30	0.348

* Significant main effect of time (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001).

Data presented as mean ± SD.

Figure 2. Fibrinogen concentrations in response to pulmonary rehabilitation in frequent and infrequent exacerbators. *Significant overall main effect of time between pre- and post-rehabilitation (p < 0.05).

Table 3. Blood cell counts pre- and post-pulmonary rehabilitation.

Variable	Frequent (n = 16)	Infrequent (n = 14)	p-values Time Time × group Group
Daily beclomethasone equivalent (µg)	815 ± 524	771 ± 554	0.805
Total leukocytes (10^9·L^−1)			0.032*
Pre-Rehab	8.1 ± 2.0	6.9 ± 1.2	0.041^#
Post-Rehab	6.7 ± 1.1	6.9 ± 1.2	0.222
Neutrophils (10^9·L^−1)			0.057
Pre-Rehab	4.9 ± 1.0	4.1 ± 1.1	0.036^#
Post-Rehab	3.8 ± 1.0	4.1 ± 1.1	0.485
Eosinophils (10^9·L^−1)			0.723
Pre-Rehab	0.2 ± 0.1	0.2 ± 0.1	0.846
Post-Rehab	0.2 ± 0.1	0.2 ± 0.1	0.479
Lymphocytes (10^9·L^−1)			0.115
Pre-Rehab	2.2 ± 0.6	2.0 ± 0.4	0.570
Post-Rehab	2.0 ± 0.5	1.9 ± 0.4	0.454
Neutrophil/Lymphocytes			0.524
Pre-Rehab	2.4 ± 1.0	2.2 ± 1.0	0.123
Post-Rehab	2.1 ± 0.8	2.3 ± 0.8	0.916

Data presented as mean ± SD.

* Significant main effect of time (p < 0.05).

^# Significant time × group interaction (p < 0.05). FRE, frequent exacerbators; INF, infrequent exacerbators.