Correlation analysis of physical function and body exercise in elderly COPD patients

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the relation between body exercise and physical function in elderly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Methods A total of 341 patients with COPD who were admitted into 3 comprehensive hospitals of Baoding city because of acute and severe occurrence were enrolled in this study. After stabilization of COPD, physical functional examination including the dyspnea status, nutrition state, lung function, the power of respiratory muscle, bronchi implantation and systemic inflammation response, was performed. Yale questionnaire was used to evaluate the physical function before admission. The correlation among those parameters was analyzed. Results The medium time of body exercise was 28.5h/w and the medium energy consumption was 5662 kcal/w. The differences in energy consumption with different sex, age, marital status, exercise, and smoking were statistically significant (P<0.05). After regulating the confounding factors, body exercise was positively related to BMI, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, IC/TLC, RV/TLC, DLCO, Pimax, Pemax, 6MWD, VO2 peak, bronchi implantation, TNF-a and CRP (P<0.05). Conclusions Higher level regular exercise is related to better physical function in COPD patients. It prompt the underlying mechanism between body exercise and hospitalization rate and mortality, which is good for the development of target interventions. Key words: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD); Elders; Body exercise; Physical function