Increasing exercise capacity and physical activity in the COPD patient.

Higher levels of exercise capacity and physical activity are desired outcomes in the comprehensive management of the COPD patient. In addition, improvements in exercise capacity and physical activity are instrumental to optimising other important therapeutic goals, such as improved health status, reduced healthcare utilisation and increased survival. Four general approaches towards increasing exercise capacity and physical activity in individuals with COPD will be discussed in this review: 1) pharmacological intervention, especially the administration of long-acting bronchodilators; 2) pulmonary rehabilitation, including exercise training and collaborative self-management; 3) behavioural interventions; and 4) web-based interventions. These are by no means the only approaches, nor are they mutually exclusive: indeed, combining them, as necessary, to meet the needs of the individual respiratory patient may promote optimal outcomes, although further research is necessary in this area.

Informations de copyright

Copyright ©ERS 2024.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflict of interest: J. Bourbeau reports grants from McGill University, the McGill University Health Centre Foundation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Grifols, Novartis, Sanofi, and the Respiratory Health Network of the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec; grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca Canada Ltd, Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Canada Ltd, and Trudell Canada Ltd; and personal fees from Pfizer Canada Ltd, and COVIS Pharma Canada Ltd, outside the submitted work. L. Brighton reports funding from an Economic and Social Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship (ES/X005259/1), outside the submitted work. S. Singh reports being a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator. This work was supported by the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, or the Department of Health and Social Care. The remaining authors have nothing to disclose.