Personalized Home Respiratory Rehabilitation Program for Subjects With Systemic Sclerosis With Early Lung Disease

Overview

Systematic sclerosis (SSc) is a potentially severe disease characterized by various visceral involvements including lung. The investigators hypothesize that a respiratory rehabilitation program specifically designed for people with systematic sclerosis with early lung disease could help to decrease respiratory deficiencies, improve aerobic capacity and prevent activity limitations and participation restrictions. Before testing the effectiveness of such a program, a pilot study is needed to assess its feasibility and optimize its content. Participants will have 1 supervised session in the outpatient rehabilitation department. Each patient will then perform the home personalized exercises program for 3 months. The feasibility of the program will be assessed at 3 months using patients' adherence to the program (assessed by the number of lost to follow-up, the number of questionnaires not completed, the amount of aerobic activity and the amount of home personalized exercises, treatment burden, adverse effects and quality of life.

SSc is responsible for a reduced life expectancy. The prognosis depends on the presence of severe visceral damage and more particularly on the presence of interstitial lung damage, pulmonary arterial hypertension or specific cardiac damage which represent the 3 main causes of mortality in SSc. The importance of rehabilitation in SSc has been confirmed by the latest INSERM Collective Expertise 2019). The objectives of functional rehabilitation in SSc are to prevent and/or reduce the specific (cutaneous, oral, cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal) and non-specific (exercise deconditioning, fatigue, anxiety and depression) impairments frequently characterizing the evolution of the disease. Based on the latest practice recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, people with a confirmed diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and significant exercise and activity limitations should follow a respiratory rehabilitation program. The value of a specific respiratory rehabilitation program for people with SSc is then a matter of interest. A pilot study is needed to assess the feasibility and optimize the content of a rehabilitation program. The investigators aimed to study the feasibility of a personalized home-based respiratory rehabilitation program in people with SSc with early lung disease.