The Trajectory of Physical Activity Following Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation clearly increases exercise capacity, but its effect on physical activity in the home and community settings is less clear. It may take a longer time for this increase in physical activity to occur. It has been stated in an editorial that it takes 3 months to train the muscles but 6 months to train the brain. The Investigators will first evaluate the change in physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation using state-of-the-science motion detectors, then Investigators will follow the trajectory of physical activity over the next several months.

This study will follow physical activity following pulmonary rehabilitation longitudinally over 48 weeks. Investigators will use a state-of-the-art accelerometer, to analyze minutes walking per day as the primary outcome, rather than vector magnitude units (VMU) or estimated steps per day. Investigators will explore potential factors influencing this important outcome, including baseline activity levels, demographic variables, changes in exercise capacity, psychological variables, and self-efficacy scores. Finally, Investigators will evaluate the rate of change (trajectory) in physical activity over approximately six months after pulmonary rehabilitation. There are limited data suggesting it takes time for the translation of increased exercise capacity into increased physical activity to occur.