• Marie Carmen Valenza, Irene Torres-Sánchez, Irene Cabrera-Martos, Jeanette Rodríguez-Torres, Emilio González-Jiménez, and Tomás Muñoz-Casaubon.
• Physical Therapy Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Spain. cvalenza@ugr.es.
• Respir Care. 2016 Feb 1; 61 (2): 212-9.

BackgroundFrailty is a key issue in the care of elderly patients. Patients with COPD are more likely to be frail, with a prevalence of 57.8%. Frailty is associated with a low level of physical activity. The aim of this study was to analyze the predictive power and identify the cutoffs of physical activity in their different domains (household, leisure time, and sport) for the absence of frailty in subjects with COPD exacerbation and stable COPD.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted. The participants underwent an individual interview, including sociodemographic and clinical aspects. The total physical activity and its domains were assessed by the modified Baecke questionnaire, and frailty was measured according to the modified version of Fried. A total of 212 subjects with COPD (104 stable and 108 with COPD exacerbation) were enrolled, along with 100 healthy subjects.ResultsThe prevalence of frailty was higher in subjects with COPD compared with the control group. An activity level of 3.54 for COPD exacerbation, 3.88 for stable COPD, and 3.50 for healthy subjects assessed using the Baecke questionnaire were recommended as the cutoff points for frailty. Sensitivity and specificity values were 0.95 and 0.807; 0.95 and 0.815; and 0.95 and 0.947, respectively.ConclusionsPhysical activity level can predict the absence or presence of frailty in subjects with stable and exacerbated COPD.Copyright © 2016 by Daedalus Enterprises.

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