Abstract
Background: The PROactive consortium aims to develop Patient Reported Outcome instruments capturing physical activity (PA) in COPD patients. Qualitative studies showed that amount of PA is important, yet, when developing items, one should ascertain that the specific activities representing this theme are relevant to all patients, irrespective of demographics or cultural background.
Methodology: Fifty five COPD patients with diverse demographic and disease characteristics from Belgium, the Netherlands, United Kingdom (Scotland) and Greece were enrolled in 8 focus groups (38.2% female; 61.6% gold stage I-II; 45% ≤ 65 years), with the aim to understanding how they experience PA. The proportion of patients who expressed difficulties with activities between countries, age groups and gender were compared using non-parametric statistics.
Results: The proportion of patients experiencing difficulties was similar between the 4 countries for walking, climbing stairs, chores, hobbies, carrying/lifting objects, and self-care activities. Significant differences were noted for cycling (p= 0.007), which was an activity specific to the Netherlands and Belgium only; and for walking uphill (p=0.023), which was more common in Greece and Scotland, due to the country geographic characteristics. No differences between gender and age groups (≤ 65 vs. > 65 years) were detected.
Discussion: Physical activity is most likely a universal concept, as patients from diverse countries report similar activities that are affected when sharing their PA experiences. Activities that are only relevant to certain subgroups should not be selected as items in PROs on PA.
Funding IMI-JU PROactive GA#115011
- © 2011 ERS
