TY - JOUR T1 - Trajectories of Endurance Activity following Pulmonary Rehabilitation in COPD Patients JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/09031936.00026011 SP - erj00260-2011 AU - J.E. Soicher AU - N.E. Mayo AU - L. Gauvin AU - J.A. Hanley AU - J. Bourbeau Y1 - 2011/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2011/07/07/09031936.00026011.abstract N2 - Maintenance of physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation remains a challenge for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The objectives of this study were to identify patterns of endurance activity after completion of pulmonary rehabilitation and to characterize people who succeed and those who have difficulty maintaining endurance activity.In a longitudinal study embedded within a randomized clinical trial, 206 individuals with COPD underwent a 3-month pulmonary rehabilitation program. Weekly duration of endurance activity was assessed at 4, 6, 8 and 12 months after rehabilitation start. Trajectory modeling was used to determine the most common patterns of activity during the post-rehabilitation phase from 4–12 months.Three distinct patterns were identified, two of which indicated difficulty in maintaining endurance activity: 61 individuals reported a high activity level at 4 months (2.7 hours·week−1) and stayed high, 114 individuals started at a low activity level (mean 1.0 hour·week−1) and stayed low, and 31 individuals started high (3.0 hours·week−1) and declined.The low activity group was characterized by more severe disease and greater respiratory impairment. The high/decline group had less severe disease and respiratory impairment, but reported greater barriers to exercise. Pulmonary rehabilitation may need to include behavioral interventions aimed at minimizing barriers. ER -