Influence of weather and atmospheric pollution on physical activity in patients with COPD

Abstract

RationaleInformation concerning how climate and atmospheric pollutants affects physical activity in COPD patients is lacking and might be valuable in determining when physical activity should be encouraged.MethodsSeventy-three stable COPD patients recorded on daily diary cards worsening of respiratory symptoms, peak expiratory flow rate, hours spent outside the home and the number of steps taken per day. Pedometry data was recorded on 16,478 days, an average of 267 days per patient (range 29-658). Daily data for atmospheric PM10 and ozone (O3) were obtained for Bloomsbury Square, Central London from the Air Quality Information Archive databases. Daily weather data were obtained for London Heathrow from the British Atmospheric Data Archive.ResultsColder weather below 22.5 °C, reduced daily step count by 43.3 steps day per°C (95 % CI 2.14 to 84.4; p = 0.039) and activity was lower on rainy than dry days (p = 0.002) and on overcast compared to sunny days (p < 0.001). Daily step count was 434 steps per day lower on Sunday than Saturday (p < 0.001) and 353 steps per day lower on Saturday than Friday (p < 0.001). After allowance for these effects, higher O3 levels decreased activity during the whole week (-8 steps/ug/m3; p = 0.005) and at weekends (-7.8 steps/ug/m3; p = 0.032). Whilst, during the week PM10 reduced activity (p = 0.018) but not during the weekend.ConclusionsInactivity of COPD patients is greatest on cold, wet and overcast days and at the weekends. This study also provides evidence of an independent effect of atmospheric pollution at high levels.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12931-015-0229-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Promoting physical activity in COPD: Insights from a randomized trial of a web-based intervention and pedometer use

“…When we constructed a model examining the interaction between randomization group and season of enrollment (in all subjects simultaneously), between-group differences were again noted only among subjects enrolled during the summer, with the pedometer plus website group demonstrating an average 860.6 ± 416.8 (p = 0.04) more steps per day over the entire study. In this model, subjects in both the pedometer plus website and pedometer alone groups enrolled in spring had significant within-group improvements from baseline, consistent with known improvements in daily PA with increasing temperatures characteristic of the transition from spring to summer[24, 25]. Although participants enrolled in spring in the intervention group had higher mean improvements, because both groups improved, the between-group differences in spring were not statistically significant.…”

“…Although PA data from intermediate time points from subjects in the intervention arm are available in a subset of studies[19], continuous daily PA monitoring in control subjects is not routinely collected or reported. Lastly, there is emerging evidence linking environmental factors such as temperature and weather to daily PA[24–26]; to date the impact of temperature patterns on PA interventions has not been reported.…”

Physical activity is increased by a 12-week semiautomated telecoaching programme in patients with COPD: a multicentre randomised controlled trial

“…On the other hand, minor transient musculoskeletal problems are not unexpected when sedentary people start an activity programme. PA is highly dependent on the season of measurement 33. Therefore, a limitation of the present trial is the narrow inclusion between June and December 2014.…”

Living near the port area is associated with physical inactivity and sedentary behavior

“…[37][38][39] In one of these studies, particulate matter and O 3 levels were correlated with reduction in physical activity in daily life and the number of steps/day, among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 38 Although air pollution was not assessed in our study, we believe that this in the port of Santos may partly explain the higher proportion of physically inactive people and larger amount of sedentary behavior among residents of the port area. In fact, a recent large study conducted Our results also showed that smoking was associated with physical inactivity and with greater amounts of sedentary behavior, independently.…”