Increasing daily physical activity fails to improve cardiac outcomes in Severe COPD patients

A recent study found that a 15% increase in daily physical activity over 3 months did not improve cardiac outcomes in COPD. The study was published in the Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.  

Cardiovascular diseases in COPD affect nearly half of the affected population. It is a huge disease burden causing mortality and morbidity. Cardiovascular pathologies in COPD can be detected by prolongation of the heart rate corrected QT interval (QTc) generated from the ECG. Evidence shows that there is an association between reduced pulmonary function and longer QTc. Literature shows that increased physical activity (PA) influences QTc and also endothelial function in COPD, but the relation is not established. Hence researchers conducted a study to investigate if PA is a modifying factor of QTc in COPD. 

A secondary outcome analysis from a randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of a 3-month pedometer-based program to improve PA was done on 59 participants. 12-lead ECG was assessed at baseline and after 3 months. PA was measured using a validated triaxial accelerometer of a multisensory activity monitor at baseline and after 3 months. Standard pulmonary function testing was done to measure forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC).