Abstract
Introduction: Physical activity (PA) is a predictor of outcome in patients with COPD. However, there are few data on PA during recovery from AECOPD requiring hospitalisation. We hypothesised that PA would differ between those COPD patients who required readmission or treatment for a re-exacerbation within 28 days of hospital discharge and those who did not.
Methods: Patients hospitalised with AECOPD were enrolled and monitored continuously with a uniaxial accelerometer (Actiwatch Spectrum, Philips Respironics, PN, USA) between the day of admission and 28 days post-discharge. Mean total daily activity count (AC) for the entire monitoring period was calculated for each patient. Readmissions and re-exacerbations within 28 days of discharge were recorded prospectively from the hospital and the primary care physician records.
Results: 51 patients were recruited (47% male, 68±9years, FEV131±15 %predicted. 10 patients had a re-exacerbation or readmission within 28days of discharge. GOLD III patients had a non-significant trend to higher AC (170±76kiloAC) compared with GOLD IV patients (140±46kiloAC). AC was lower in patients who re-exacerbated or were readmitted within 28 days post-discharge compared with those who did not (112±33kiloAC vs.151±72kiloAC, p=0.01).
Conclusion: Disease severity, as measured by GOLD staging, did not influence PA in this cohort of hospitalised patients with AECOPD. However, patients who re-exacerbated at home or required readmission within four weeks of discharge had lower levels of daily activity than those that did not. PA measured by accelerometry potentially could be used as part of a telehealth system to monitor COPD patients at home.
- © 2014 ERS