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Objective: To describe the results of outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)., Design: Descriptive., Setting: Rijnlands Zeehospitium, Katwijk, the Netherlands., Methods: In the period June 1991-September 1993, 64 patients participated in pulmonary rehabilitation. They were divided into three groups according to the results of spirometry: group I: FEV1 > 60% of predicted value; group 2: FEV1 40-60%; group 3: FEV1 < 40%. Data were collected by spirometry, bicycle ergometry, walking distance and the Questionnaire for asthma and COPD-patients, which measures quality of life, compliance with therapy, ability to cope and social support. Patients visited the outpatient clinic three times a week, during three months for training and guidance in a multidisciplinary setting, and attended a health education programme., Results: Significant results were obtained in exercise performance at bicycle ergometry and walking distance. The psychosocial results showed improvement in quality of life, compliance with therapy and ability to cope. Group 1 and group 2 improved on almost every parameter, in group 3 the results in exercise performance were less striking. With respect to psychosocial parameters, group 3 showed significant reduction in anger, dyspnoea and fatigue., Conclusion: Pulmonary rehabilitation on an outpatient basis showed positive results that were most striking in patients with asthma or mild COPD. The results in patients with severe COPD were less, but still evident.