PURPOSE: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is now recognized as the most effective treatments for individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), internet-based PR arises a promising method. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis for assessing the effect of internet-based PR programs on physical capacity and health-related quality of life in patients with COPD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Randomized controlled trials were identified through systematically searches in PubMed, EMBASE, web of science, CENTRAL, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases. RESULTS: Twelve studies (1433 patients) were included. For physical capacity, there was no significant difference between groups was found according to the 6-min walk test (6MWT) (MD 10.42, 95% CI -2.92 to 23.77, p = 0.13, I2 0%). For the health-related quality of life, no significant difference between groups was found regarding the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) (MD -0.64, 95% CI -3.52 to 2.23, p = 0.66), COPD assessment test (CAT) (MD -0.34, 95% CI -1.62 to 0.94, p = 0.60), modified Medical Research Council scale (mMRC)(MD 0.17, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.39, p = 0.15) and Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ) (MD 1.32 95% CI -5.88 to 8.53, p = 0.72). CONCLUSIONS: This study has established the potential for delivery of PR via the internet in demonstrating non-inferiority of physical capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) compared with conventional PR.

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