ABSTRACT
Respiratory disease ranks second only to musculoskeletal disease (and above stroke) as a cause of overall disability in elderly people.1 Nearly fifteen years ago, Cockcroft defined respiratory rehabilitation as “returning patients with respiratory disability to as normal a life as possible, aiming for them to achieve independent function in all their life activities”.2 With removal of the word “respiratory” from this definition geriatricians would recognise Cockcroft’s phraseology as an excellent definition of rehabilitation in general. Given this, and the numeric importance of respiratory disease as a cause of disability, it is surprising that respiratory rehabilitation has not hitherto occupied the thoughts and practice of most geriatricians. Possible reasons for this have recently been reviewed.3 Atypical presentation and difficulties in detection of respiratory disease and disability are discussed elsewhere in this volume (see chapter on clinical ageing by Rai and Mulley).
