According to current guidelines, pulmonary rehabilitation is an essential part of the long-term management of the widespread diseases COPD and asthma, of which 11 million people in Germany are currently affected. The body of scientific evidence assuring the relevant positive effects of rehabilitation is of the highest level, especially in the case of COPD. These range from improvement in the major clinical symptoms of shortness of breath and diminished vitality, the reduction of the psychosocial consequences of the disease in terms of secondary anxiety and depression, the reduction of sick days and hospital stays to reduced patient mortality rates after hospitalization for COPD. Considering the enormous medical as well as socio-economic relevance of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the convincing body of evidence and the high levels of recommendation in evidence-based guidelines, there is a striking disparity with regard to those rehabilitation measures actually carried out, which, according to German national statutory pension insurance, account for less than 3% of all completed medical rehabilitation measures.
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.