Educational component in rehabilitation programs for persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review

Introduction
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a chronic disorder that involves high-priced treatment and management, 45–75% of which may be associated with exacerbation. Treatment, rehabilitation, adherence to a healthy lifestyle, and following recommendations for self-management require a patient’s high motivation and self-organization. Analysis and the search for effective strategies that could be implemented to enhance the effectiveness of an educational component in rehabilitation for people with COPD have become the purpose of the study.

Material and methods
The search was conducted on a resource of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. From the initial database searches, 2487 unique papers were identified, 895 were retrieved for full-text evaluation, 39 of those were included for further data extraction.

Results
Publications selected for analysis based on the main content were grouped into 5 categories; most articles were focused on the self-management strategy.

Conclusions
The current practice of conducting and recommending education for COPD patients, as well as modern technologies, will make it possible to properly implement this component in pulmonary rehabilitation programs, achieve the objectives and positive impacts. Effective educational strategies ensure long-term benefits for the patients, fewer exacerbations, better physical performance, and quality of life. The correct inhaler technique is the fundamental practical skill to be learned by COPD patients during training sessions. A set of recommendations has been developed, and they should be considered when elaborating on the curriculum within the pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD patients.