An evaluation of the short physical performance battery following pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Petra Larsson,Anne Edvardsen,Anners Lerdal,Christine Råheim Borge,Malin Nygren-Bonnier

doi:10.1186/s13104-018-3458-7

Abstract

ObjectiveThere is a need for simple tools to evaluate physical performance in patients with COPD before and after pulmonary rehabilitation. The aims of this study were to evaluate changes in short physical performance battery (SPPB)-scores in patients with COPD after a 4-week pulmonary rehabilitation program; explore possible relationships between SPPB-scores and exercise capacity (6-min walk distance), dyspnea (modified Medical Research Council’s dyspnea scale), disease-specific quality of life (COPD assessment test), and pulmonary function (predicted forced expiratory volume in one second) at baseline; and explore if changes in SPPB-scores are related to changes in exercise capacity, dyspnea, and disease-specific quality of life following pulmonary rehabilitation.ResultsForty-five patients with COPD were included in the final analysis. SPPB-scores improved following pulmonary rehabilitation (mean change: 1.2 ± 1.7 points, p < 0.001). There were moderate correlations between SPPB-scores and exercise capacity (r = 0.50, p < 0.001) and dyspnea (r = − 0.45, p = 0.003) at baseline, but not with pulmonary function or disease-specific quality of life. Changes in SPPB-scores were not associated with changes in exercise capacity or dyspnea scores. The SPPB may be a useful tool for evaluating physical performance in COPDTrial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02314338, December 11, 2014.

Highlights

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often experience respiratory related symptoms [1] which can lead to functional limitations [2, 3], influence quality of life and mortality [1], and are associated with increased longitudinal risk of disability [4]
Few studies have investigated if exercise tolerance, dyspnea, disease-specific quality of life (DSQoL), and pulmonary function correlate with Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) scores in patients with COPD [9, 10]
Higher SPPB scores correlated with better performance on the six-minute walk distance (6MWD) (r = 0.50, p < 0.001) and lower modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale (mMRC) scores (r = − 0.45, p = 0.003)

Summary

Results

The mean increase in SPPB score was 1.2 ± 0.9 points, p < 0.001 (Table 2). Higher SPPB scores correlated with better performance on the 6MWD (r = 0.50, p < 0.001) and lower mMRC scores (r = − 0.45, p = 0.003). SPPB scores were not correlated with FEV1% or CAT at baseline. Changes in CAT scores were not analyzed because of missing data. For unknown reasons posttest data on CAT scores were missing from the medical records in 23 patients.

Introduction

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