Benefit of wearing an activity tracker in sarcoidosis

Abstract

Sarcoidosis causes many disabling symptoms, including fatigue and exercise limitations, which have been shown to improve by physical activity programs. The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of continuous activity monitoring using an electronic activity tracker (AT) on exercise performance and fatigue of sarcoidosis patients, compared to controls (cohort study), and the effect of additional personal coaching (randomized trial) over a period of 3 months. Fifty-four sarcoidosis patients received an AT (Group Ia: 27 with coaching and Group Ib: 27 without). A historical group of sarcoidosis patients (Group II; n = 41) who did not follow a physical activity program served as controls. Exercise performance of patients wearing an AT (Group I) improved compared with controls (Group II), including the 6MWD, % predicted (∆4.4 ± 9.1 versus ∆0.7 ± 5.0, respectively), and fatigue levels decreased (∆−3.9 ± 5.7 versus ∆−1.8 ± 5.3). Patients with coaching (Group Ia) showed greater improvement of exercise capacity over time than patients without coaching (Group Ib) as shown by the Steep Ramp Test results (watts: ∆20.2 ± 33.8 versus ∆5.7 ± 26.4; and SRT, VO2 max, % predicted: ∆1.6 ± 2.6 versus ∆0.7 ± 2.3). Sarcoidosis patients wearing an AT achieved improvement of exercise performance and reduction of fatigue. We therefore recommend encouraging sarcoidosis patients to wear an AT to stimulate physical activity and reduce fatigue. The additional benefit of coaching needs to be explored in future studies.