Physical activity during and after a severe acute exacerbation of COPD

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) have been associated with decreased physical activity (PA). We aim to describe PA levels during and after a severe AECOPD, compare with patients with stable COPD (SCOPD), and correlate with physical function. <b>Methods:</b> Hospitalized patients with AECOPD wore an accelerometer (Actigraph) during hospitalization and for 7 days at 1 week and 1 month after discharge. Stable patients were matched for lung function pre-AECOPD. Other assessments included quadriceps force (QF;microFET), 6min-walk test (6MWT), and short physical performance battery (SPPB) at hospital discharge. All assessments were performed before COVID-19. <b>Results:</b> We included 20 patients with AECOPD (10 male; age 69±8yrs; FEV₁ 42±11%pred; hospital stay 6±3 days) and 20 patients with SCOPD (10 male; age 66±9yrs; FEV1 43±10%pred). PA parameters improved gradually during recovery of an AECOPD (Figure 1). Statistical significance was only shown in a subset of comparisons. At 1 month follow-up, values were not different from SCOPD. QF, 6MWT, SPPB and 4-m gait speed were associated with steps/day and time spent in light to moderate intense PA at different timepoints (r 0.63 to 0.79, all p &lt; 0.05). <b>Conclusion:</b> Patients are markedly inactive during AECOPD. PA improves during recovery and after 1 month, no differences are found with SCOPD. Strong correlations were found between physical functioning and PA. A larger sample size is needed to confirm this.