Performance during the Glittre-ADL test between patients with and without post-tuberculosis bronchiectasis: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Post-tuberculosis bronchiectasis (PTBB) is gaining recognition as an important chronic lung disease, representing a neglected condition with a significant burden for the individual. Recently, the Glittre-ADL test (TGlittre) has been proposed for the assessment of functional capacity, which incorporates tasks of daily living demanding the upper and lower extremities. This study used TGlittre to compare patients with PTBB to patients with non-post-tuberculosis bronchiectasis (NPTBB) and evaluate the determinants of performance during TGlittre. Methods This is a cross-sectional study in which 32 patients with PTBB and 29 with NPTBB underwent TGlittre. In addition, they completed Short Form-36 (SF-36), handgrip strength, quadriceps muscle strength (QMS) and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). Results Both PTBB and NPTBB required much more time to perform the TGlittre compared to the predicted values, although they did not differ statistically from each other [152 (124–200) vs. 145 (117–179)% predicted, p = 0.41]. Regarding the PFTs, the PTBB participants showed significantly lower values than the NPTBB participants in forced vital capacity (FVC, 60 ± 14.5 vs. 78.2 ± 22.2% predicted, pConclusions PTBB patients have lower than expected performance on TGlittre, though similar to NPTBB patients. The PTBB patients had a greater reduction in lung volume than NPTBB patients. Furthermore, the performance on TGlittre in PTBB patients is largely explained by lung volume and QMS.