Physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
IRAS ID
229697
Contact name
Hayley Robinson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Lincoln
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Individuals with COPD have significantly lower levels of daily physical activity compared with the healthy population which is associated with reduced quality of life and increased risk of hospitalisation and mortality. Individuals who attend pulmonary rehabilitation benefit from increased exercise capacity and health-related quality of life. However increased exercise capacity following pulmonary rehabilitation does not directly translate to an increase in daily physical activity and hence long-term behaviour change in COPD. Interventions to promote physical activity levels following pulmonary rehabilitation have had limited success. However, evidence suggests that peer social support and feedback are facilitators to physical activity in this population and should be incorporated into interventions.
This study aims to assess the feasibility of an intervention to promote physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD. The intervention consists of three components with the aim to increase individuals’ motivation to engage in physical activity upon completion of pulmonary rehabilitation (pedometer to provide feedback of physical activity progress; daily step diary to provide feedback of physical activity progress; online social networking to provide social support from peers).
This is a mixed methods study which will involve conducting a feasibility cluster randomised trial, with pulmonary rehabilitation programmes as unit of randomisation and a qualitative process evaluation. Participants will be adults with COPD who have completed pulmonary rehabilitation within Lincolnshire Community Health Services (NHS trust), and there will be approximately 30 patients in each group. Healthcare professionals involved in delivering the intervention will also participate in focus groups.
Study duration will be a maximum of 82 weeks, and participant duration will be a maximum of 55 weeks. The primary objective is to provide an estimate of likely changes in the proposed primary outcome (average daily step count at 52 weeks following pulmonary rehabilitation). Secondary objectives are: 1) To provide an estimate of likely changes in secondary health outcomes; 2) To identify and report the acceptability of the intervention and research procedures for patients and health care professionals involved in pulmonary rehabilitation; 3) To identify and report the fidelity of the intervention throughout the intervention; 4) To obtain the necessary statistical parameters to inform sample size calculations in a future definitive cluster randomised controlled trial. The results from the feasibility study will inform a future large research project comparing patients who are randomly given the intervention or usual care following pulmonary rehabilitation.
REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SC/0199
Date of REC Opinion
16 May 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion