BACKGROUND:COPD is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States as
well as throughout the rest of the world. An exacerbation of COPD (periodic escalations of …

Dyspnea is a cardinal symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and its
severity and magnitude increases as the disease progresses, leading to significant disability …

Clinical pathways (CPWs) are a common component in the quest to improve the quality of
health. CPWs are used to reduce variation, improve quality of care, and maximize the …

Foot ulcers are a common, serious, and costly complication of diabetes, preceding 84% of
lower extremity amputations in diabetic patients and increasing the risk of death by 2.4-fold …

Background Lean as a management system has been increasingly adopted in health care
settings in an effort to enhance quality, capacity and safety, while simultaneously containing …

Background: Diabetic foot ulcers cause major treatment morbidity and cost of care. This study
evaluated quality of life in patients with unhealed and healed diabetic foot ulcers. Methods: …

Industrial improvement approaches such as Lean management are increasingly being adopted
in health care. Synthesis is necessary to ensure these approaches are evidence based …

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a recommended intervention in the management
of individuals with chronic lung disease. It is important to study the characteristics and …

The challenges of providing quality respiratory care to persons living in rural or remote
communities can be daunting. These populations are often vulnerable in terms of both health …

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have documented similar levels of end-of-life symptom
burden for lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, yet there …