Regular Exercise May Curb Hospital Readmission in COPD
Vigorous physical activity cuts the risk of hospital readmission in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to a new study.
Efforts to reduce the 30-day readmission rates of patients with COPD have, until now, focused on outpatient management and deficiencies in care following discharge.
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Now, researchers are exploring the possibility that modifiable factors like regular physical activity could be associated with readmission rates.
In order to test this theory, researchers analyzed the health records of 6042 patients in southern California who were hospitalized because of COPD in 2011 and 2012.
Patients’ self-reported exercise had been documented during the time as part of Kaiser Permanente’s Exercise as a Vital Sign program.
Patients were separated into 3 groups: inactive, insufficiently active, and active. Overall, patients with COPD who exercised at least 150 minutes a week had a 34% lower risk of 30-day hospital readmission than those that did not exercise. Those who moderately or vigorously exercised for less than 150 minutes were still 33% less likely to be readmitted.
“Our findings further support the importance of physical activity in the management of COPD across the care continuum,” researchers concluded.
“While it is possible that lower physical activity is a reflection of worse disease, promoting and supporting physical activity is a promising strategy to reduce the risk of readmission.”
–Michael Potts
Reference
Nguyen HQ, Chu L, Lie ILA, Lee JS, Suh D, Korotzer B, et al. Associations between physical activity and 30-day readmission risk in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease[published online ahead of print April 9, 2014]. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201401-017OC#.U01DIse9NnI