Gait speed and readmission following hospitalisation for acute exacerbations of COPD: a prospective study

Abstract

NCT01507415.

Frailty and sarcopenia as the basis for the phenotypic manifestation of chronic diseases in older adults

“…This could be of utmost importance in COPD patients since the degree of functional debility and level of exercise capacity greatly influences quality of life and mortality in patients with COPD (Karpman and Benzo, 2014). In this sense, gait speed, a surrogate marker of frailty, independently predicts the risk of readmission in older patients hospitalized for acute exacerbation of COPD (Kon et al, 2015) while the presence of frailty markedly increases the risk of long-term mortality (Galizia et al, 2011).…”

Review of the British Thoracic Society Winter Meeting 2015, 2–4 December, London, UK

“…Using this non-invasive measure he was able to demonstrate recovery, which was superior to other standard measures in predicting patients who were unlikely to be readmitted 15. Dr Kon showed that long-term outcome was predicted using a simple walking test on discharge, the 4 m gait speed, which takes 5 min to perform 77. This global measure of frailty shows the effects of COPD on the whole system.…”

Multimorbidity, frailty and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

“…61 Importantly, 4MGS has been shown to be an indicator of future readmissions in individuals with COPD following an acute exacerbation. 62 The 4MGS is responsive to improvements with pulmonary rehabilitation, with the largest effects seen in patients with the slowest gait speed (effect size 1.0) and the evidence of a ceiling effect in those with well-preserved gait speed (effect size 0.2). 63 To date, the only measure of gait speed to be directly compared with a multicomponent assessment of frailty in individuals with COPD is 100-foot walk time.…”