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Updated: Apr 28, 2026
Home-Based Prescribed Pulmonary Exercise in Patients with Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Published on: August 24, 2019
Physical comorbidities affect physical activity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective cohort study
Renae J McNamara1, Zoe J McKeough, David K McKenzie
1Clinical and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Department of Physiotherapy, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and physical comorbidities engage in significantly less physical activity and more sedentary behavior than those with COPD alone or healthy individuals.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Gerontology
- Physical Therapy
Background:
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) frequently co-occurs with physical comorbidities.
- The impact of these physical comorbidities on physical activity levels in COPD patients remains under-researched.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare physical activity levels in individuals with COPD and physical comorbidities (COPD + PC) against individuals with COPD alone (COPD) and healthy controls.
- To investigate the association between physical comorbidities and sedentary behavior in COPD patients.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving three groups: COPD + PC (n=25), COPD (n=25), and healthy controls (n=25).
- Participants wore a SenseWear Pro3 Armband for 7 days to objectively measure physical activity and sedentary behavior.
- Participants had Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage II-IV.
Main Results:
- The COPD + PC group exhibited significantly reduced light (140 min/day) and moderate (25 min/day) intensity physical activity compared to COPD (231 and 104 min/day) and control groups (259 and 114 min/day).
- Individuals in the COPD + PC group spent significantly more time in sedentary behavior (771 min/day) compared to the COPD (603 min/day) and control groups (567 min/day) (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
- Physical comorbidities are associated with substantially lower daily physical activity levels in people with COPD.
- COPD patients with physical comorbidities demonstrate increased sedentary behavior, highlighting a need for targeted interventions.
