Unravelling the complex interplay of factors behind exercise limitations and physical inactivity in COPD
Clarice Y. Tang,
Bruce Bernstein,
Felicity Blackstock,
Astrid Blondeel,
Andrea Gershon,
Elena Gimeno-Santos,
Rainer Gloeckl,
Alda Marques,
Martijn A. Spruit,
Chris Garvey,
Mike Morgan,
Linda Nici,
Sally J. Singh,
Thierry Troosters
Affiliations
Clarice Y. Tang
Institute of Health, Exercise and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
Bruce Bernstein
Research Development, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, CT, USA
Felicity Blackstock
School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
Astrid Blondeel
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Andrea Gershon
Division of Respirology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute and ICES, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Elena Gimeno-Santos
Barcelona of Global Health Institute (ISGlobal) - Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
Rainer Gloeckl
Institute for Pulmonary Rehabilitation Research, Schön Klinik Berchtesgadener Land, Schönau am Königssee, Germany
Alda Marques
Lab3R – Respiratory Research and Rehabilitation Laboratory, School of Health Sciences (ESSUA) and Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
Martijn A. Spruit
Department of Research and Development, CIRO, Horn, The Netherlands
Chris Garvey
Retired, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
Mike Morgan
Retired, Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Biomedical Research Centre, Leicester, UK
Linda Nici
Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA
Sally J. Singh
Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Biomedical Research Centre, Leicester, UK
Thierry Troosters
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Exercise limitation and physical inactivity are known treatable traits for people with COPD. Maximising exercise capacity and keeping people physically active improves health status and survival rates among people with COPD. However, managing these two treatable traits can be extremely challenging for clinicians due to the complex intersectionality of factors influencing an individual's capacity, opportunity and motivation to engage in physical activity. This review presents the complex factors influencing exercise capacity (“can do”), levels of physical activity (“do do”) and sedentary behaviours amongst people with COPD and provides practical recommendations on how clinicians can address some of these factors in practice. Most importantly, it highlights the importance of referring to pulmonary rehabilitation as a way to improve exercise capacity among people with COPD.
