Functional capacity and health status in patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Introduction: The daily life of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients is characterised not only by chronic respiratory symptoms but also by exercise intolerance due to their breathlessness. Proper diagnosis and management of this disease consequently includes evaluation of exercise tolerance [1], frequently associated with a reduced functional exercise performance [2], thereby adversely affecting health status [3]. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of COPD on objectively-measured daily physical activity (DPA) through functional capacity and quality of life in these patients. Material(s) and Method(s): An observational study was performed with inclusion of seventy one men with moderate COPD (FEV1 54.6 +/- 7.1%); age 63.8 +/- 3.1 yrs; weight, 71.2 +/- 8.3 kg; height, 169.0 +/- 8.1cm constituted the COPD group (COPDG), and 150 healthy subjects, age 64.2 +/- 5.8 yrs; weight, 76.2 +/- 11.3 kg; height, 169.8 +/- 7.5 cm, were included as the healthy group - HG. The physical parameters assessed were strength, aerobic endurance, flexibility and agility/balance, by the Fullertons functional fitness tests. The health status was evaluated through the Medical Outcomes 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Garcia De Orta Hospital and all participants gave their informed consent. Result(s): The values of the functional fitness test were significantly different (p