Home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has demonstrated its effectiveness amongst patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, this modality has not been investigated in severe asthma.

A new study published in Respiratory Medicine investigated the utility of home-based PR in patients with severe asthma.

This was a retrospective study that enrolled 28 patients with severe asthma and 164 matched COPD patients—who had completed a home-based PR program and at least 12 months of follow-up. The number of steps performed during a 6-min stepper test (6MST), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scores, and the Visual Simplified Respiratory Questionnaire score (VSRQ) were compared between the baseline, post-PR period (post-PR) and after the 12-month follow-up (M12), within each group.

The findings revealed that in the severe asthma group, the 6MST was higher post-PR and at M12compared to baseline. While the VSRQ score was higher at M12, but not post-PR in comparison with baseline. On the other hand, there was no difference in the HAD scores between baseline, post-PR and M12. Moreover, PR outcomes were not significantly different between severe asthma and COPD patients at short and long term.

Hence, it was inferred that in severe asthma, home-based PR is associated with improved exercise tolerance and quality of life on a long-term basis, but does not modify anxiety and depression.