Impact of a 12-Week Supervised Aerobic Exercise Program on Asthma Control in Adult Patients With Asthma: Preliminary Results From the EX-ASTHMA Behavioral RCT

Abstract

Purpose: Aerobic exercise has been shown to have several positive health benefits across various diseases, including asthma. However, there is still a paucity of high quality trials assessing the impact of exercise on asthma morbidity. The current study was designed using the ORIBIT framework to assess the impact of aerobic exercise on asthma control. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT00953342. Methods: In total, 66 adult patients (71% women, M [SD] age=49 [13] yr) with objectively confirmed asthma and poor asthma control (M [SD] ACQ=2.0 [0.9]) were randomised to either 12 weeks of usual care (n=33) or supervised aerobic exercise (n=33). The exercise program consisted of 3 sessions per week (10 min warm-up, 36 min exercise (cycle, treadmill, or elliptical), 10 min cool-down). Patients were assessed prior to randomisation and at the end of the intervention. Repeated measures analyses were conducted using intention-to-treat, with missing values being imputed. Results: Overall, 97 and 91% of patients in the control and exercise group, respectively, completed the study. In comparison to the control group, patients in the exercise group had significant improvements in asthma control (beta=-0.48, p=.008), short-acting bronchodilator (SABA) usage (beta=-2.75, p=.003), waist circumference (beta=-10.1, p=.040), and depressive symptoms (beta=-3.7, p=.009). There was also a trend for an increase in peak VO2(beta=126, p=.125). In contrast, there was no difference between the groups in PC20 (beta=-0.20, p=.395), FEV1 (B=-2.2, p=.590), nor BMI (beta=-0.51, p=.255). Importantly, there were no adverse events related to participating in the exercise Conclusions: The aerobic exercise intervention clinically and statistically improved asthma control (0.5 decrease in ACQ), decreased SABA usage (nearly 3 times less per week), attenuated waist circumference increases (10 cm), and reduced depressive symptoms (4 point drop in BDIII). In addition, the intervention appeared to be safe. Clinical Implications: A 12-week structured aerobic exercise could be considered as an adjunct to current pharmacological therapy in asthma patients with poor asthma control.