The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a Progressive Walking program (PW) on physical activity, exercise tolerance, recovery, and post-operative complications for patients with a lung resection.

A nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design was utilized and 37 participants with a lung resection (22 for control group, 15 for experimental group) were recruited at A university hospital from December 2012 to August 2013. The PW consisted of preoperative education, goal setting, and feedback, provided to the experimental group, and usual care to the control group. Data were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 18.0.

A higher proportion of patients in the experimental group showed adequate levels of physical activity (p= .001), shorter period of chest tube retention (≤ 7 days; p= .011), and shorter stay in the hospital (≤ 10 days; p= .036) than patients in the control group. Patients in the experimental group reported longer 6-minute walking distance (p= .032) and lower levels of dyspnea (p= .049) than patients in the control group. The PW did not influence the occurrence of pulmonary complications.

The findings of this study suggest that the PW could be a useful strategy for improving patients’ post-operative health and reducing cost after lung resection.