Associations between physical activity and mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease population with...

In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), up to 80% are burdened with multiple comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) or cancer. Existing evidence has shown that physical activity can benefit individuals with COPD. However, there exists no research that specifically explores the effects of physical activity on COPD patients with or without comorbidities. Our study aims to investigate whether moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) confers a protective effect against mortality in COPD individuals with or without main comorbidities.

This prospective cohort investigation harnessed information derived from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) amassed from 2007 to 2012. COPD participants who engaged in 10 minutes or more of MVPA per week were categorized as the MVPA group, while those who did not partake in such activity formed the control group.

In the COPD population without comorbidities (median 118.12 months), all-cause mortality occurred in 45/583 (7.7%) of MVPA group subjects versus 41/260 (15.7%) of controls [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) =0.626; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.390-1.005; P=0.052]. In the COPD population with comorbidities (median 110.20 months), all-cause death occurred in 153/872 (17.4%) of MVPA group participants versus 128/471 (27.2%) of controls (adjusted HR =0.738; 95% CI: 0.571-0.887; P=0.02). Notably, a more pronounced beneficial effect of MVPA was observed among COPD patients with CVD or cancer.

MVPA was found to be associated with a lower risk of all-cause death in COPD individuals with or without comorbidities.