Both moderate and severe exacerbations accelerate physical activity decline in COPD patients

What is it about?

Reduced physical activity is related to the prognosis of patients with COPD. Nevertheless, the determinants of physical activity are poorly understood. We investigated the effect of exacerbations on the change in physical activity in patients with COPD. Based on 141 patients included in 5 European sites, we analyzed the effect of the number of exacerbations and the severity of the exacerbation on changes in physical activity during a 12 month follow up. The present results show that the number of exacerbations was related to the decline in physical activity (daily step count), even when only moderate exacerbations (without a need for being hospitalized) occur.

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