Effect of referrer education on pulmonary rehabilitation referrals
| Action | Effect on referrals |
| Delivering education to primary care referrers19–21 | 3%–5% increase |
| Patient education as part of a ‘patient held score card’ with advice to discuss referral at their next COPD review22 | 6% increase |
| Integrated approach to COPD care23 | 25% increase over 3 years |
| Delivering education to secondary care referrers41 42 | 6% increase RR: 2.78 (95% CI 2.65 to 2.90) |
| Delivering COPD discharge bundles by pulmonary rehabilitation practitioners versus non-pulmonary rehabilitation practitioners138 | 60% vs 12% OR: 14.46 (95% CI 5.28 to 39.57) |
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; RR, risk ratio.