Abstract

The first British Thoracic Society guideline on pulmonary rehabilitation in adults is published in the accompanying Thorax supplement. Focusing on delivery of a quality pulmonary rehabilitation service, the evidenced-based guideline encompasses recommendations on the composition of the service, referral of patients and who benefits, the expected patient-related outcome measures and markers, pulmonary rehabilitation following exacerbations, the post-rehabilitation period and areas requiring further research. In this commentary, we introduce the guideline and discuss pulmonary rehabilitation in the wider context of chronic disease management of respiratory patients.