Correlation of Physical Activity and Respiratory Health in COPD Patient

Overview

COPD is a common, preventable and treatable disease that is characterized by persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation that is due to airway and/or alveolar abnormalities, usually caused by significant exposure to noxious particles or gases. COPD is third leading cause of death worldwide. "Ideal cardiovascular health," a set of factors, including several directly along the causal pathway of transitions from health to disease, that protect against the development of cardiac disease. Working definition of respiratory health are the dual concepts of pulmonary reserve, as reflected by peak lung function in young adulthood, and susceptibility, as reflected by risk for future accelerated decline in lung function after the attainment of this peak. There is relationship between physical activity, disease severity, health status and prognosis in patients with COPD. Common pulmonary function tests include spirometry, lung volumes, and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO). Spirometry assesses airflow limitation. Diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide provides information on the health of alveolar-capillary membrane. This study will be cross-sectional correlational study. It will find correlation between person's physical activity and respiratory health. IPAQ and 6MIN walk test will be used as measuring tools of physical activity and FEV1 and TLV for estimating respiratory health. Spirometer will be used to measure respiratory health. Data will be collected from different hospital settings and analysed using SPSS software. All ethical considerations will be followed.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous and multisystemic disease with progressive increasing morbidity and mortality. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a deteriorating respiratory disease with some extrapulmonary effects that contribute to disease severity in patient. The etiology, in general, involves exposure to external noxious particles or gases. In the Western world this is particularly a result of (cigarette) smoking and in the non-Western world it is mainly a result of indoor cooking. COPD pathology is driven by chronic inflammation, which continues to be observed after stopping smoking, even after ⩾1 year. The combination of the exposure and inflammation leads to lung tissue damage, resulting in remodeling of the lung.Global Burden of Disease programme in 2010 identified chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as the third leading cause of death worldwide up from 4th in 1990. This high mortality due to COPD is caused due to smoking and rapidly aging population. China alone contributed to about one-third (0.9million/year) of all deaths from COPD worldwide. Within China, the prevalence of COPD varies substantially by region and death rates attributed to COPD are twofold greater in South-West compared with North-East regions for reasons that are not fully understood. Physical activity in terms of body movements, walking time and standing time has been shown to be reduced in patients with severe COPD. However, it is currently unknown at which clinical stage of the disease limitations of physical activity are first displayed. Furthermore, the relationships between physical activity and clinical characteristics reflecting the disease severity, such as the degree of airway obstruction, distance walked in 6 min, self-reported grade of dyspnea and clinical stages of COPD, need to be investigated as, to date, data are inconclusive or have never been evaluated. For example, some studies have found substantial correlations between airway obstruction and physical activity, while others found no or only loose relationships. Previous studies indicate that the 6-min walking distance (6MWD) might best reflect physical activity, while a recent study found airway obstruction to correlate with physical activity better than 6MWD.