ADV715: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive, long-term a respiratory disease affecting adults that are characteristic by limited airflow in the lungs caused by damage to the airways and air sacs: Project Design for Research Assignment, UOP, UK

Summary

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive, long-term
a respiratory disease affecting adults that are characterized by limited airflow in the lungs caused by damage to the airways and air sacs (NICE, 2010). The damage is caused by recurrent inflammation of the airways, usually as a result of tobacco smoke (NICE, 2010). The symptoms of COPD include breathlessness (dyspnoea), a cough productive of mucus, tiredness, and frequent chest infections (acute exacerbations) (McCarthy et al., 2015). COPD also affects other parts of the body and may lead to muscle wasting, heart disease, and depression all of which can have a significant impact on physical activity and quality of life (McCarthy et al., 2015). COPD is a major cause of ill health worldwide (McCarthy et al., 2015).

Pulmonary rehabilitation is one of the main treatment approaches recommended for COPD (NICE, 2010; GOLD 2016). Pulmonary rehabilitation programs include exercise as the main component and may include other elements such as education, dietary advice, and psychological support (McCarthy et al., 2015).

The effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation is often measured against health-related quality of life questionnaires and exercise capacity tests (McCarthy et al., 2015). Measures of breathlessness before and after exercise, the oxygen saturation of the blood after exercise, and hospital admission rates are also measures of the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation (Nonoyma et al, 2007; Puhan et al., 2011; McNamara et al., 2013; Menadue et al., 2014; McCarthy et al., 2015).

Umbrella reviews, which are also referred to as overviews of reviews or reviews of reviews, aim to compile, summarise and synthesize evidence from multiple existing systematic reviews of interventions into one review (Becker and Oxman, 2011; Aromataris et al., 2014). An umbrella review should address the effects of multiple interventions for a single health condition (Becker and Oxman, 2011). With an overwhelming abundance of existing systematic reviews, umbrella reviews are now being sought by clinicians, decision-makers, and service users to aid in quicker clinical decision making and resource allocation (Becker and Oxman, 2011; Whiting et al.,2016).