Laboratory and free-living gait performance in adults with COPD and healthy controls

Buekers J, Megaritis D, Koch S, Alcock L, Ammour N, Becker C, Bertuletti S, Bonci T, Brown P, Buckley E, Buttery SC, Caulfied B, Cereatti A, Chynkiamis N, Demeyer H, Echevarria C, Frei A, Hansen C, Hausdorff JM, Hopkinson NS, Hume E, Küderle A, Maetzler W, Mazzà C, Micó-Amigo EM, Mueller A, Palmerini L, Salis F, Scott K, Troosters T, Vereijken B, Watz H, Rochester L, Din SD, Vogiatzis I, Garcia-Aymerich J (2023)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

Book Volume: 9

Article Number: 00159-2023

Journal Issue: 5

DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00159-2023

Abstract

Background Gait characteristics are important risk factors for falls, hospitalisations and mortality in older adults, but the impact of COPD on gait performance remains unclear. We aimed to identify differences in gait characteristics between adults with COPD and healthy age-matched controls during 1) laboratory tests that included complex movements and obstacles, 2) simulated daily-life activities (supervised) and 3) free-living daily-life activities (unsupervised). Methods This case–control study used a multi-sensor wearable system (INDIP) to obtain seven gait characteristics for each walking bout performed by adults with mild-to-severe COPD (n=17; forced expiratory volume in 1 s 57±19% predicted) and controls (n=20) during laboratory tests, and during simulated and free-living daily-life activities. Gait characteristics were compared between adults with COPD and healthy controls for all walking bouts combined, and for shorter (⩽30 s) and longer (>30 s) walking bouts separately. Results Slower walking speed (−11 cm·s⁻¹, 95% CI: −20 to −3) and lower cadence (−6.6 steps·min⁻¹, 95% CI: −12.3 to −0.9) were recorded in adults with COPD compared to healthy controls during longer (>30 s) free-living walking bouts, but not during shorter (⩽30 s) walking bouts in either laboratory or free-living settings. Double support duration and gait variability measures were generally comparable between the two groups. Conclusion Gait impairment of adults with mild-to-severe COPD mainly manifests during relatively long walking bouts (>30 s) in free-living conditions. Future research should determine the underlying mechanism(s) of this impairment to facilitate the development of interventions that can improve free-living gait performance in adults with COPD.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal) Spain (ES) University of Sheffield United Kingdom (GB) University College Dublin (UCD) Ireland (IE) Newcastle University United Kingdom (GB) University of Zurich / Universität Zürich (UZH) Switzerland (CH) Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) Germany (DE) Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center / Ichilov Hospital Israel (IL) Università degli Studi di Sassari (UNISS) Italy (IT) Northumbria University United Kingdom (GB) Sanofi-Aventis Groupe France (FR) Robert Bosch GmbH Germany (DE) Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust United Kingdom (GB) Imperial College London / The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine United Kingdom (GB) Politecnico di Torino Italy (IT) Novartis AG Switzerland (CH) NTNU Trondheim - Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway (NO) Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) / Catholic University of Leuven Belgium (BE) University of Bologna / Università di Bologna Italy (IT) Deutsches Zentrum für Lungenforschung e.V. (DZL) Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Buekers, J., Megaritis, D., Koch, S., Alcock, L., Ammour, N., Becker, C.,... Garcia-Aymerich, J. (2023). Laboratory and free-living gait performance in adults with COPD and healthy controls. ERJ Open Research, 9(5). https://dx.doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00159-2023

MLA:

Buekers, Joren, et al. "Laboratory and free-living gait performance in adults with COPD and healthy controls." ERJ Open Research 9.5 (2023).

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