Using pedometers to monitor walking activity in outcome assessment for pulmonary rehabilitation

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a commercially available pedometer could detect changes in home-based walking activity among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients completing pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Methods: Patients with COPD referred to outpatient PR wore a pedometer to count steps for 1 week at the beginning and 1 week at the end of PR. Patients also completed the 6-min walk test (6MWT), the Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnea scale and the self-administered chronic respiratory disease questionnaire (CRQ) at the beginning and the end of PR. Paired t tests were used to compare pre- and post-PR changes in outcome variables. Results: 45 patients with severe COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1] 45% ± 18% of predicted) participated in a total of 17.4 ± 4.6 PR sessions. Significant improvements in 6MWT (49 ± 59 m; p