Daily physical activity affects exercise capacity in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Akira Morino, Hiroki Takahashi, Hirofumi Chiba and 1 others
PMID 28878456WHAT IT FOUND
In 38 outpatients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, higher daily step counts over 14 days were linked to longer 6-minute walk distance, along with vital capacity and quadriceps force.
Key findings
01Daily step counts over 14 days were positively correlated with 6-minute walk distance (r=0.646).
02Vital capacity, quadriceps force, and daily step counts were selected as independent parameters associated with 6-minute walk distance.
03Depression scores showed no significant relationship with 6-minute walk distance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 38 stable outpatients were analyzed, and the study was small, so estimates may be imprecise. All participants could perform the walk test and had mild-to-moderate breathlessness, so the findings may not apply to patients with severe dyspnea or unstable disease. The design was observational, so it found links at one time point and cannot show that increasing daily steps causes better walk distance. DLCO could not be measured in 6 patients because of cough. Patients with cognitive impairment, high pneumothorax risk, major comorbidities limiting exercise, or lung lobe resection were excluded. Medical management, including oxygen, pirfenidone, or corticosteroids in some patients, was not separated as a contributor to walk distance.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration appears in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that prescribing more daily steps will improve exercise capacity. This was an observational study of associations in stable outpatients, not a trial of an activity intervention.