Affiliations: For a full list of the authors' affiliations please refer to the Acknowledgements. ABSTRACT This European Respiratory Society (ERS) statement provides a comprehensive overview on physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A multidisciplinary Task Force of experts representing the ERS Scientific Group 01.02 ''Rehabilitation and Chronic Care'' determined the overall scope of this statement through consensus. Focused literature reviews were conducted in key topic areas and the final content of this Statement was agreed upon by all members.The current knowledge regarding physical activity in COPD is presented, including the definition of physical activity, the consequences of physical inactivity on lung function decline and COPD incidence, physical activity assessment, prevalence of physical inactivity in COPD, clinical correlates of physical activity, effects of physical inactivity on hospitalisations and mortality, and treatment strategies to improve physical activity in patients with COPD.This Task Force identified multiple major areas of research that need to be addressed further in the coming years. These include, but are not limited to, the disease-modifying potential of increased physical activity, and to further understand how improvements in exercise capacity, dyspnoea and self-efficacy following interventions may translate into increased physical activity.The Task Force recommends that this ERS statement should be reviewed periodically (e.g. every 5-8 years).@ERSpublications An official ERS statement providing a comprehensive overview on physical activity in patients with COPD http://ow.ly/C6v78

Pulmonary rehabilitation following exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

RationaleReduced physical activity (PA) in patients with COPD is associated with a poor prognosis. Increasing PA is a key therapeutic target, but thus far few strategies have been found effective in this patient group.ObjectivesTo investigate the effectiveness of a 12-week semiautomated telecoaching intervention on PA in patients with COPD in a multicentre European randomised controlled trial.Methods343 patients from six centres, encompassing a wide spectrum of disease severity, were randomly allocated to either a usual care group (UCG) or a telecoaching intervention group (IG) between June and December 2014. This 12-week intervention included an exercise booklet and a step counter providing feedback both directly and via a dedicated smartphone application. The latter provided an individualised daily activity goal (steps) revised weekly and text messages as well as allowing occasional telephone contacts with investigators. PA was measured using accelerometry during 1 week preceding randomisation and during week 12. Secondary outcomes included exercise capacity and health status. Analyses were based on modified intention to treat.Main resultsBoth groups were comparable at baseline in terms of factors influencing PA. At 12 weeks, the intervention yielded a between-group difference of mean, 95% CI (lower limit – upper limit; ll-ul) +1469, 95% CI (971 to 1965) steps/day and +10.4, 95% CI (6.1 to 14.7) min/day moderate PA; favouring the IG (all p≤0.001). The change in 6-min walk distance was significantly different (13.4, 95% CI (3.40 to 23.5) m, p<0.01), favouring the IG. In IG patients, an improvement could be observed in the functional state domain of the clinical COPD questionnaire (p=0.03) compared with UCG. Other health status outcomes did not differ.ConclusionsThe amount and intensity of PA can be significantly increased in patients with COPD using a 12-week semiautomated telecoaching intervention including a step counter and an application installed on a smartphone.Trial registration number:NCT02158065.