Urban Walking Circuits

Improving Physical Activity in Patients With Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Urban Walking Circuits

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of walking urban circuits in increasing the level of physical activity and exercise capacity in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients after being enrolled in a pulmonary rehabilitation program.

Inclusion Criteria:

• severe COPD (post-bronchodilator Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/ Forced vital capacity (FVC) <0.7 and FEV1 <50%) and stable disease defined as no exacerbation, hospital admission or change in treatment in the previous three months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The exclusion criteria were: other significant respiratory disease (bronchiectasis, lung fibrosis, asthma, etc.), active smoking, severe cardiovascular, neurological, musculoskeletal and/or metabolic pathology that could interfere with the results, alcoholism (>80g/day) or severe malnutrition (BMI<19kg/m2).