Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) present lower levels of physical activity (PA), which have been associated with adverse outcomes including increased healthcare utilisation and reduced survival. Thus, improving PA levels has become one of the main goals of COPD research.
Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a cornerstone of COPD management with well-documented effects on exercise capacity and quality of life. However, its effects in increasing patients' physical activity (PA) levels are limited. Previous research has suggested that PR with PA monitoring and feedback may be a suitable approach to increase and/or maintain patients' PA levels.
Patients with COPD will participate in a 12-week PR program plus a PA-focused intervention. Daily PA will be measured using activity monitors GT3X+ (ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL) on weeks (W) 1, 7 and 12 and feedback will be given to participants in the following weeks regarding: daily steps; time spent in sedentary, light and moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) intensity activities.
The impact of the intervention will be explored using a mixed-methods approach.
Assessments will be conducted immediately before (W1) and after (W12) the PR program. Breathlessness, exercise capacity, functional balance, peripheral muscle strength and health-related quality of life will be assessed in both time points.
Descriptive statistics will be used to characterise the sample. To analyse changes in outcome measures, data from the two time points will be compared. Correlations between PA data and health-related outcomes will be performed at W1 and using the change scores (i.e., W12-W1).
Patients will also be invited to attend focus groups after the intervention to assess their perspectives about the use of activity monitors and the feedback given.
This is a pilot study which will inform the main study (including the sample size calculation).
