You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Original article
Development of disability in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: beyond lung function
Free
  1. Mark D Eisner1,2,
  2. Carlos Iribarren3,
  3. Paul D Blanc1,2,
  4. Edward H Yelin4,
  5. Lynn Ackerson3,
  6. Nancy Byl5,
  7. Theodore A Omachi1,
  8. Stephen Sidney3,
  9. Patricia P Katz4
  1. 1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
  2. 2Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
  3. 3Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, California, USA
  4. 4Institute for Health Policy Studies, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
  5. 5Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
  1. Correspondence to Mark D Eisner, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, M1097, San Francisco, CA 94143-0111, USA; mark.eisner{at}ucsf.edu

Abstract

Background COPD is a major cause of disability, but little is known about how disability develops in this condition.

Methods The authors analysed data from the Function, Living, Outcomes and Work (FLOW) Study which enrolled 1202 Kaiser Permanente Northern California members with COPD at baseline and re-evaluated 1051 subjects at 2-year follow-up. The authors tested the specific hypothesis that the development of specific non-respiratory impairments (abnormal body composition and muscle strength) and functional limitations (decreased lower extremity function, poor balance, mobility-related dyspnoea, reduced exercise performance and decreased cognitive function) will determine the risk of disability in COPD, after controlling for respiratory impairment (FEV1 and oxygen saturation). The Valued Life Activities Scale was used to assess disability in terms of a broad range of daily activities. The primary disability outcome measure was defined as an increase in the proportion of activities that cannot be performed of 3.3% or greater from baseline to 2-year follow-up (the estimated minimal important difference). Multivariable logistic regression was used for analysis.

Results Respiratory impairment measures were related to an increased prospective risk of disability (multivariate OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.26 to 2.44 for 1 litre decrement of FEV1 and OR 1.57 per 5% decrement in oxygen saturation; 95% CI 1.13 to 2.18). Non-respiratory impairment (body composition and lower extremity muscle strength) and functional limitations (lower extremity function, exercise performance, and mobility-related dyspnoea) were all associated with an increased longitudinal risk of disability after controlling for respiratory impairment (p<0.05 in all cases). Non-respiratory impairment and functional limitations were predictive of prospective disability, above-and-beyond sociodemographic characteristics, smoking status and respiratory impairment (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve increased from 0.65 to 0.75; p<0.001).

Conclusions Development of non-respiratory impairment and functional limitations, which reflect the systemic nature of COPD, appear to be critical determinants of disablement. Prevention and treatment of disability require a comprehensive approach to the COPD patient.

  • COPD epidemiology

https://doi.org/10.1136/thx.2010.137661

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Supplementary materials

    • Web Only Data thx.2010.137661

      Files in this Data Supplement:

    • Web Only Data thx.2010.137661

      Files in this Data Supplement:

    Footnotes

    • Funding National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/National Institutes of Health R01HL077618 and K24 HL 097245; Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI Bland Lane Center of Excellence on Secondhand Smoke). This publication was also supported by NIH/NCRR UCSF-CTSI Grant Number UL1 RR024131. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

    • Competing interests MDE completed this study while he was a full time member of the University of California San Francisco. Currently, he is a full time employee of Genentech, Inc. and continues to have a faculty position at University of California San Francisco. He has no financial interest in the topic of this manuscript. No other authors have declared a competing interest.

    • Ethics approval This study was conducted with the approval of the UCSF, KPNC.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.