Evaluation of multidisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation education delivered by either DVD or spoken talk.

INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a multidisciplinary program of care for patients with chronic respiratory disease. The educational component is an integral component and represents a large proportion of a program. However, it can be difficult to secure regular multidisciplinary input to PR programs.

OBJECTIVES: This service evaluation assessed whether DVD presentations are acceptable to patients and effective as an education medium.

METHOD: Two PR groups were compared; one group received education by DVD and the other by spoken talk. Both groups evaluated the content and delivery of each session and their knowledge was measured using the Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire (BCKQ).

RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-three patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) took part; 58 evaluated the DVD, 75 the talk sessions. There were no differences between the two groups at baseline with respect to age, gender distribution, or FEV1 . Both groups were satisfied with the content (99.46% DVD, 100% talk group) and delivery (100% both DVD and talk groups) of their education sessions. At baseline, there were no between group differences in the mean BCKQ. After PR, significant changes in BCKQ scores were seen within the groups (6.52 points (1.48-11.37) DVD group and 8.96 points (6.50-11.19) talk group), again with no differences between the groups.

CONCLUSION: A DVD-based education package is both acceptable to PR patients and effective at improving patients' knowledge of COPD. Using filmed educational talks with PR would have a number of benefits to both the patients and the service and may be a way of increasing the capacity of PR services.