ABSTRACT
Respiratory Rehabilitation and Respiratory Division, University Hospitals, and Faculty of Kinesiology
and Rehabilitation Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and Postdoctoral
Fellow of the Research Foundation-Flanders, Brussels, Belgium
Respiratory Rehabilitation and Respiratory Division, University Hospitals, and Faculty of Kinesiology
and Rehabilitation Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
I. Introduction
TheWorld Health Organization defines rehabilitation as “The use of all means to aim at
reducing the impact of disabling and handicapping conditions and at enabling people
with disabilities to achieve optimal social integration.” Rehabilitation, hence, is not
confined to a specific organ or structure, but rather to the functioning and interaction
of persons in their environment. Pulmonary rehabilitation is a form of rehabilitation
dealing with patients suffering primarily from respiratory disorders and limited
participation in daily life. The rehabilitation process, however, is not oriented at
improving lung function, but rather improves the functioning of patients by improving
the long-term systemic consequences patients with lung diseases may suffer from.
These so-called “systemic consequences” include, but are not limited to, muscle
weakness, nutritional depletion and exercise intolerance, symptoms that are often out of
proportion of the lung function abnormality, and impaired mental state.
