Abstract
Rationale: The 6-Minute-Walk-Distance (6MWD) is an important instrument to assess patient-related outcomes in COPD. Conversely, the Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) test is widely used as measure of physical mobility in the elderly but data in COPD are rare. Whether peripheral artery disease (PAD) has an impact on these parameters in patients with COPD has not been studied so far.
Aims: To determine the association between PAD and 6MWD and TUG test in a large cohort of patients with COPD.
Methods: Baseline characteristics, 6MWD and TUG test were assessed in 2,233 patients with COPD enrolled in the COSYCONET cohort study. Ankle-brachial index (ABI) was used to define PAD (ABI≤0.9). Characteristics were compared between patients with and without PAD and adjusted for age, gender, height, weight and FEV1.
Results: 2,233 patients with COPD (60.9% male, age 64.9 [8.4] yrs, FEV1 55.5 [19.7]% pred, GOLD stage I, II, III, IV: 12.6%, 43.9%, 34.6%, 8.9%) were included for analyses. Patients with PAD (n=184, 8.2%, GOLD stage I, II, III, IV: 4.6%, 7.5%, 10.5%, 8.1%) had a shorter 6MWD (355 [108] vs 423 [104] m, p<0.001) and needed more time to complete the TUG test (median [interquartile-range]: 7.5 [6.0–9.0] vs 6.5 [5.4–8.0] s, p<0.001) compared to those without PAD. Differences remained significant after correction for confounders.
Conclusions: Patients with COPD and comorbid PAD had worse functional capacity compared to those without PAD. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of concomitant PAD on the response to interventions.
Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, FZK 01GI0881; SW was supported by Lung Foundation Netherlands (3.4.10.015) and GSK (SCO115406).
- Copyright ©ERS 2015