Effect of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Lung Cancer Survivors

Patients who have surgery to cure lung cancer often have multiple problems at hospital discharge and later on. This includes poor exercise performance and quality of life, breathlessness, pain and tiredness. Currently there is little formal physical or psychological support for such patients. This pilot study aims to investigate whether outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation (an exercise training and education programme), started within 2 weeks of hospital discharge, can lead to improvements in exercise performance and quality of life in patients who have undergone lung cancer surgery. The study will also assess whether pulmonary rehabilitation is acceptable for patients and will analyze the safety profile. The hypothesis is that patients; discharged from hospital after undergoing lung cancer surgery, have improved exercise performance and quality of life following early outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation compared with usual care.