Chest
Original Research: COPDPhysical Activity and Hospitalization for Exacerbation of COPD
Section snippets
Study Design
Assessment of physical activities was performed on day 2 and day 7 of the hospitalization period and 1 month after discharge from the hospital. Pulmonary function,19 maximal inspiratory pressure (Pimax) and maximal expiratory pressure,20 quadriceps force,7 fat-free mass (by bioimpedance), and arterial blood gas levels were measured on day 3 and day 8 of hospitalization and 1 month after discharge from the hospital (on a different day than the assessment of physical activities). A 6-min walking
Results
Six patients dropped out during the hospitalization period: one patient with a mild exacerbation was discharged on the third day of hospitalization, three patients with very severe exacerbations required intensive care, and two patients refused to continue the tests for personal reasons. As previously mentioned, one patient died of respiratory insufficiency in the fifteenth day of hospitalization. The final analysis was therefore performed with 17 patients (16 men; median age, 69 years;
Discussion
The present study showed that patients with COPD had very low level of physical activity during and after hospitalization for an AE independently of whether the exacerbation was infectious or not. Time spent in weight-bearing activities was low, especially in patients with quadriceps muscle weakness at the end of the hospitalization period. Furthermore, patients with hospitalization for an AE in the previous year had an even lower activity level when compared to patients without a recent AE. In
ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
The authors thank the following professionals for help with the assessments: Iris Coosemans, Veronica Barbier, Alix Debrock, Monique van Vliet, Geert Celis, Ana Balañá, Yannick Taverne, and the Lung Function staff and the nursing staff of the Pneumology Department from UZ Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium.
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Dr. Pitta is supported by CAPES/Brasil. This study was partially funded by FWO-Vlaanderen grants Levenslijn 7.0007.00, G.0237.01, and foundation Van Goethem-Brichant 2001.
Dr. Troosters is a postdoctoral fellow of the FWO-Vlaanderen. Dr. Spruit is a postdoctoral fellow at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (PDM/04/230).
Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (www.chestjournal.org/misc/reprints.shtml).