| Summary |
The purpose of this research study was to examine the relationship between exercise endurance and quality of life in participants in an outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program. King's Goal Attainment Theory was used as a conceptual framework for the study. A one group pretest posttest design, using a convenience sample of all willing participants who began the program within a one-month period was used, for a total of 7 participants who completed the program. The sample consisted of 5 males and 2 females. One of the men was African-American, and the remaining participants were Caucasian. The pulmonary rehabilitation program consisted of 36 sessions, two or three times weekly, that had exercise and education components. The 12 minute walking distance test was administered before and after the pulmonary rehabilitation program as the measure of exercise endurance. Ferrans and Powers' Quality of Life Index - Pulmonary Version, which measures the dimensions of health and functioning, socioeconomic, psychosocial/spiritual, and family was used as the measure of quality of life, and was administered by the researcher before and after the program. The 12 minute walking distance test scores showed statistically significant improvement following pulmonary rehabilitation, as analyzed by paired-t test, but the quality of life scores did not show statistically significant improvement. A Spearman's rank order correlational analysis did not demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between exercise endurance and quality of life. The findings of this study did not substantiate that there is a relationship between exercise endurance and quality of life among pulmonary rehabilitation participants, however there is increased exercise endurance in participants who completed a pulmonary rehabilitation program |
