Scope

Chronic pulmonary diseases, including COPD, are complex conditions that primarily affect the lung, but are commonly associated with a variety of systemic manifestations and multimorbidity which largely contributes to the burden of disease. More recently, an additional burden to the patients’ complexity has derived from severe hospitalized patients in critical care areas.

Comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation (cPR) programs including whole body and peripheral skeletal muscle training, education, and other interventions is a non-pharmacological comprehensive therapy aimed at reducing an individual’s disability in those patients suffering from chronic conditions either primary or secondary to other diseases. More recently, the scope, feasibility, and effectiveness of cPR have widened to acute individuals at their early onset of disability.

The magnitude of clinical effects following cPR depends on several factors, i.e. specific patients’ condition, the severity of respiratory disease and the presence of co-occurring diseases, appropriate adherence, and the timing of this intervention. A more personalized, multi-professional, and structured assessment and specialized treatments based on a variety of identifiable treatable characteristics or so-called treatable traits could progress efficient rehabilitation. An Individual’s complexity and severity, as well as clinical setting (e.g. acute hospitalization), are no contraindication to cPR, however, might limit effectiveness, benefits, and/or safety.

Therefore, given the comprehensive and multi-professional nature of cPR as a dedicated therapy offered to disabled patients, interactions among muscle training and medications, inhaled gases used for therapeutic purposes, mechanical external devices, digital solutions that support interprofessional working, and e-health aids could be crucial in determining a beneficial effect. In addition, new and interesting organizational aspects in the field of cPR (i.e. clinical models, components, policy commitment, etc.) could be expanded in research and specific invited articles.

cPR is a specific area of rehabilitation whose scope is to create a new opportunity with a new “editorial house” for hosting high-quality international research to all those professionals dealing with clinical or experimental rehabilitation dedicated to pulmonary patients.

The ‘Pulmonary Rehabilitation’ section welcomes contributions of applied or clinical research, industry innovation, and evidence synthesis of best and effective practices. This section also invites commentaries by and contributions of people with disabilities as researchers and debates around emerging and crucial section topics. The journal welcomes submissions of manuscripts of various methodologies, including systematic and narrative evidence reviews and syntheses, quantitative (trials, cohort studies, surveys), qualitative (narrative and semi-structured interviews, focus groups, observations), case studies, and mixed-method studies. The section welcomes innovations developed by people with disabilities to enhance social and community participation and inclusion.

Submission

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