Pain and physical performance in people with COPD

Summary Introduction Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have been shown to experience significant pain that interferes with their daily activities and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine if pain is associated with functional exercise capacity (assessed with the six-minute walk test, 6MWT), physical activity (assessed by accelerometry), and muscle performance (maximal knee extensor torque) in people with COPD. Methods Twenty-six people with moderate to severe COPD completed the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Short Form-36 (SF-36), and a form to list medications and comorbidities. After spirometric testing, participants performed the 6MWT. Physical activity was monitored for two days using a tri-axial accelerometer (DynaPort MiniMod). At least 3 days after the 6MWT, maximal and fatiguing concentric contractions of knee extensors were assessed. Results Pain severity was negatively correlated with the 6MWT ( p