Abstract
Objectives: To investigate differences between patients with COPD who achieve or not the minimum physical activity recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) according to age.
Methods: Physical activity in daily life (DynaPort monitor and SenseWear armband), lung function, exercise capacity, body composition, quality of life, respiratory and peripheral muscle force and disease severity indexes (BODE and GOLD) were evaluated in 70 patients (41 male, 66±9 years, FEV1 38±14%pred, BMI 27±6kg m-2). Groups were divided according to ACSM guideline in: active (>30 minutes/day of moderate physical activity [threshold: 4 MET for 40-64 years; 3.2 MET for 65-79 years and 2 MET for >80 years); and inactive (those who did not achieve these recommendations).
Results: There was significant difference between the groups in body composition (weight, BMI, fat mass and%fat-free mass; p<0.05 for all), quality of life (p=0.04), FEV1%pred (p=0.007), number of steps/day (p=0.0009), time spent walking/day (p=0.001), total energy expenditure (p=0.04) and GOLD stage (p=0.05). No differences were observed concerning exercise capacity, muscle force and BODE index. Modest but significant correlations were found between time spent daily in moderate physical activity and age (r=-0.32), BMI (r=-0.28), fat mass (r=-0.32), steps/day (r=0.56), time spent walking/day (r=0.48), total energy expenditure (r=0.43), FEV1 (r=0.36) and GOLD (r=-0.33).
Conclusion: Physically inactive patients with COPD have worse pulmonary function, quality of life and body composition than those who are active. Differences between active and inactive patients in terms of daily physical activity involve both time spent walking and energy expenditure.
- © 2011 ERS