Characteristics associated with physical activity in non-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Introduction: Physical inactivity is a characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A better understanding of physical activity in non-severe COPD could encourage the development of targeted interventions to halt disease progression. Aim: Characteristics were explored which were related with physical activity in COPD Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage 0-2. Methods: This were cross-sectional analyses of baseline data of patients selected from the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study with physician diagnosed (N=77) and newly diagnosed (N=246) COPD GOLD 0-2. Physical activity was reported on the Short Questionnaire to Assess Health-Enhancing Physical Activity questionnaire and expressed in hours per week of metabolic equivalents (MET-h/week). Associations between characteristics and physical activity were examined with regression analysis, adjusted for age and gender. Results: Median [IQR] reported physical activity was 31 [15-46] MET-h/week. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (0.40, 95%CI 0.09,0.71 MET-h/week per percent predicted FEV1) and the use of long-acting muscarinic antagonists (-17.8, 95%CI -25.8,-9.77 MET-h/week compared with no use) were associated with physical activity. Conclusion: Pulmonary function was positively associated, and medication use was negatively associated with physical activity. Most likely, patients with pulmonary medication have more airflow limitation and more severe symptoms that result in less physical activity. Prospective intervention studies are needed to study whether early interventions to preserve pulmonary function result in more physical activity in non-severe COPD.