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Multicenter Study
. 2017 Sep;72(9):796-802.
doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-209209. Epub 2017 Mar 1.

Socio-environmental correlates of physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Ane Arbillaga-Etxarri  1   2   3   4 , Elena Gimeno-Santos  1   2   3 , Anael Barberan-Garcia  5   6 , Marta Benet  1   2   3 , Eulàlia Borrell  7 , Payam Dadvand  1   2   3 , Maria Foraster  8   9 , Alicia Marín  10 , Mònica Monteagudo  11   12 , Robert Rodriguez-Roisin  6 , Pere Vall-Casas  13 , Jordi Vilaró  14 , Judith Garcia-Aymerich  1   2   3 ; Urban Training Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Socio-environmental correlates of physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Ane Arbillaga-Etxarri et al. Thorax. 2017 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Study of the causes of the reduced levels of physical activity in patients with COPD has been scarce and limited to biological factors.

Aim: To assess the relationship between novel socio-environmental factors, namely dog walking, grandparenting, neighbourhood deprivation, residential surrounding greenness and residential proximity to green or blue spaces, and amount and intensity of physical activity in COPD patients.

Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 410 COPD patients from five Catalan municipalities. Dog walking and grandparenting were assessed by questionnaire. Neighbourhood deprivation was assessed using the census Urban Vulnerability Index, residential surrounding greenness by the satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and residential proximity to green or blue spaces as living within 300 m of such a space. Physical activity was measured during 1 week by accelerometer to assess time spent on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and vector magnitude units (VMU) per minute.

Findings: Patients were 85% male, had a mean (SD) age of 69 (9) years, and post-bronchodilator FEV1 of 56 (17) %pred. After adjusting for age, sex, socio-economic status, dyspnoea, exercise capacity and anxiety in a linear regression model, both dog walking and grandparenting were significantly associated with an increase both in time in MVPA (18 min/day (p<0.01) and 9 min/day (p<0.05), respectively) and in physical activity intensity (76 VMU/min (p=0.05) and 59 VMUs/min (p<0.05), respectively). Neighbourhood deprivation, surrounding greenness and proximity to green or blue spaces were not associated with physical activity.

Conclusions: Dog walking and grandparenting are associated with a higher amount and intensity of physical activity in COPD patients.

Trial registration number: Pre-results, NCT01897298.

Keywords: COPD epidemiology; Exercise.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: RRR reports receipt of grants/research support from Almirall (not related to this study), lectured for Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ferrer, Menarini, Novartis, Takeda and TEVA, and consulted with AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pearl, Takeda and TEVA. AAE, EGS, ABG, MB, LB, MF, PD, AM, MM, PVC, JV and JGA have nothing to disclose. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of amount (time in moderate-to-vigorous activity) and intensity (VMU/min) of physical activity according to socio-environmental characteristics in COPD patients. NDVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index; UVI, Urban Vulnerability Index; VMU, vector magnitude units. Bars represent mean and SE.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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