title: Characteristics of daily arm activities in patients with COPD.
abstract: Arm activities are required for maintenance of self-care and independent living. This study aimed to investigate whether and to what extent arm activities of daily living (ADL) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients differ compared to healthy controls and the extent to which they perform arm ADL at a relatively higher upper limb muscle effort. Daily arm and leg activities were assessed using accelerometers in the home environment (COPD: n=21, healthy: n=24; part 1). The relative efforts of the trapezius, deltoid and biceps muscles were studied using electromyography during domestic arm ADL in a laboratory setting (COPD: n=17, healthy: n=15; part 2). After correction for walking time, the time spent on arm ADL was similar between COPD patients and healthy control subjects (p=0.52), while the intensity of arm activities was lower in COPD patients (p=0.041). In the laboratory setting, arm ADL were performed at a lower intensity by COPD patients, while the trapezius muscle effort was significantly higher during several arm ADL compared to healthy control subjects (p<0.05). COPD patients have a similar duration of arm ADL compared to healthy subjects after correction for walking time, but perform arm activities at a lower intensity. Moreover, patients perform some arm ADL at a relatively higher muscle effort.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Human Movement Science, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands kenneth.meijer@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meijer
authors.affiliation: Dept of Human Movement Science, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Janneke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Annegarn
authors.affiliation: Dept of Methodology and Statistics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Valéria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lima Passos
authors.affiliation: Dept of Human Movement Science, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hans H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Savelberg
authors.affiliation: Dept of Respiratory Medicine, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Annemie M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Schols
authors.affiliation: Dept of Respiratory Medicine, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands Dept of Research and Education, CIRO+, Centre of Expertise for Chronic Organ Failure, Horn, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Emiel F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Wouters
authors.affiliation: Dept of Research and Education, CIRO+, Centre of Expertise for Chronic Organ Failure, Horn, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martijn A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Spruit
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001132:Arm / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012648:Self Care; D064171:Superficial Back Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology; D016138:Walking