Phenotyping Adopters of Mobile Applications Among Patients With COPD: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Sofia Flora, Nádia Hipólito, Dina Brooks and 11 others
PMID 36188799WHAT IT FOUND
COPD patients who used mobile apps were younger and had higher walking capacity than non-users.
Those using activity apps self-reported more activity, but objective data showed more sedentary time and no higher objectively measured activity.
Key findings
01COPD patients who used mobile apps were younger and had higher walking capacity than patients who did not use apps.
02App users spent more time in vigorous activity and self-reported higher moderate-to-vigorous activity than non-users, while other activity measures did not differ.
03Participants who used PA apps self-reported more activity than those who did not use PA apps, but objective data showed no higher activity and more sedentary time.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This was a secondary analysis of a larger study, and the sample size was not calculated for this question, so it may have missed differences. Most participants were men and had low symptom and exacerbation burden, so results may not apply to women or people with more severe COPD. The study measured people at one time point, so it cannot show that app use caused higher activity or better walking capacity. Self-reported activity and objective activity disagreed, especially for PA app users, so questionnaire scores may overestimate activity. The authors did not explore why interested non-users did not use PA apps.
Declared interests
Funded by public Portuguese and European research grants. The authors declared no commercial or financial conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that mobile apps improve physical activity or walking capacity. The study was cross-sectional and only described differences between people who already used apps and people who did not; PA app users self-reported more activity, but objective data showed more sedentary time and no higher objectively measured activity.