Despite gains in pulmonary rehab implementation due to health insurance coverage, less than 2% of COPD patients in South Korea receive PR.
According to a nationwide study published in Chest, pulmonary rehab rates in South Korea gradually increased from 0.03% to 1.4% during a four-year period, but that number remains “suboptimal.”
The study also found that those patients receiving PR had improved outcomes including:
- a significant decrease in mortality
- greater times to the first moderate-to-severe and severe exacerbations
- reduced incidence rate and frequency of moderate-to-severe and severe exacerbations
Researchers say direct medical cost was significantly higher in the pulmonary rehab group compared to those not receiving PR, however, costs in the PR group showed decreasing trends while non-PR showed increasing trends.
