Urban Training for COPD Patients

Effectiveness of an Intervention of Urban Training in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): a Randomised Controlled Trial

This project plans on a training intervention by using public spaces and urban walkable trails, adapted to each patient needs and capabilities. Primary objective is to assess 12 months effectiveness of the intervention with respect to: (primary outcome): physical activity level, and (secondary outcomes): COPD admissions, exercise capacity, body composition, quality of life, and mental health.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age > 45 years
• COPD diagnosed by pulmonary function tests during clinical stability, with a ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) to forced vital capacity (FVC) ≤ 0.70
• clinical stability, defined as at least 4 weeks without antibiotics or oral corticosteroids.

Exclusion Criteria:

• living >6 months/year outside of the included municipalities,
• living to a distance higher than 500 meters to any of the urban trails used for the study,
• mental disability according to the Mini Mental State Examination in its validated Spanish version
• comorbidity that could interfere with study tests (e.g., lower limb amputation)
• severe psychiatric disease or severe comorbidity limiting survival at one year, according to medical history.