The study identified a gap in the current literature

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the future work and stated research gap and stated challenges of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 2 journals.

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Efficacy of pulmonary rehabilitation combined with minimal-dose adjunctive TCM (Shen Yi Capsules and Hua Chan Su) in improving postoperative outcomes for non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized controlled trial (2026) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi

  rehabilitation in examining pulmonary interstitial lung disease might benefit from the use of other types of patient-reported outcome measures that have been found to be more sensitive to short-term clinical changes. 5.3 Recommendations Future studies of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in interstitial lung disease (ILD) must focus on larger and more diverse samples. This will enhance statistical power and externality between ILD subtypes. Expanding recruitment to other age groups, disease severity levels, and sociodemographic groups would enable meaningful subgroup analysis. It would also support evidence- based personalization of rehabilitation in each case. Moreover, a longer follow-up is needed to evaluate the sustainability of functional and quality-of-life improvements. Such studies can identify whether maintenance or booster rehabilitation sessions help support long-term results. It is suggested to use multicenter and, where possible, multinational designs. This would help capture variations in health care delivery and rehabilitation infrastructure. It would also improve access to patients across settings and aid translation of results into clinical practice. Additional research should incorporate multidimensional outcome measures, including mental health, fatigue, physical activity, and patient-reported outcomes. Future studies should focus on identifying patient subgroups most likely to respond to PR. Subgrouping can be based on ILD subtype, baseline functional status, symptom burden, and comorbidities. Such a strategy would help build tailored rehab programs, streamline resource distribution, and enhance patient- centered care for ILD management.

  generalfuture workevidence 5/5
  Keywords: rehabilitation patient disease help pulmonary interstitial lung reported outcome measures term clinical future focus enhance
• An interpretable stacked ensemble framework for evaluating respiratory rehabilitation outcomes under traditional Chinese medicine-integrated care: a multicenter retrospective cohort study (2026) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi

  The study identified a gap in the current literature regarding the evaluation of treatment effectiveness in patients undergoing respiratory rehabilitation integrated with Traditional Chinese Medicine. The study identified a need for an interpretable machine-learning framework for evaluating rehabilitation outcomes. The study identified a lack of personalized treatment plans for patients with respiratory diseases.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: study identified gap current literature regarding evaluation treatment
• A Derivation Study of a Cardio-Nutrition-Inflammation-Oxygen Index and 3-Month Functional Outcomes After Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation (2026) · Nutrients · doi

  The study identifies the challenge of heterogeneous short-term functional outcomes after outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation. Another challenge is the lack of a comprehensive index that integrates echocardiographic filling pressure, nutritional status, inflammation, and oxygen requirement. The study also notes the challenge of interpreting the results due to the retrospective design and the potential for selection bias.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: study identifies challenge heterogeneous short-term functional outcomes after

Questions about this gap