Are there differences in the level of physical activity and functional capacity between healthy and asthmatic children and adolescents?

Abstract

Background: Sedentary life style is among the most cited risk factors for severity of asthma. This study aimed to evaluate the level of physical activity and functional capacity of children and adolescents with asthma and to compare them with healthy individuals.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with asthmatic children and adolescents, from Pediatric Pulmonology Outpatient Clinic of Unicamp, and healthy controls from public schools in Louveira, Brazil. All participants were submitted to 6-minute walk test (6MWT), ADL-Glittre test (ADLGT), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the average steps taken recorded by a pedometer. For statistical analysis, the Student’s T-Test, chi-square test and multiple linear regression were used.

Results: A total of 145 subjects with asthma (AG) and 173 healthy subjects (HG) aged 7 to 17 years were included. There was no statistical difference between sex, age, weight and height in both groups. HG presented a greater distance covered in the 6MWT and less time required to perform the ADLGT (p<0.001). There was difference in the level of physical activity classified by IPAQ, in the HG the prevalence of sedentarism was 13.9%, while in AG was 26.2% (p=0.006). The average number of steps registered by the pedometer was 22.2%, higher in HG.

Conclusion: AG presented shorter distance and longer time required to perform the tests, lower average number of daily steps and greater amount of individuals classified as sedentary. All tests performed presented differences in the level of physical activity and functional capacity between the groups.