Pulmonary rehabilitation for mild COPD: a systematic review.

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is effective in improving exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with moderate-to-very-severe COPD. Quadriceps strength and HRQOL can be impaired in patients with mild COPD, therefore, patients at this grade may already benefit from PR. However, the impact of PR in patients with mild COPD remains unestablished. Thus, this systematic review assessed the impact of PR on exercise capacity, HRQOL, health-care resource use and lung function in patients with mild COPD.