The efficacy of the assistant use of short-acting β ₂ stimulant procaterol on the daily activity in COPD patients. Niigata multicenter study

Background and purpose: COPD patients have some dyspnoea on exertion in spite of medication. Guidelines suggest the use of short-acting β 2 antagonist (SABA) as necesarry. There are few reports to see whether the supplemantary use of SABA inhalation imporves their physical activity, ADL and QoL in the daily life. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of assistant use of procaterol inhalation. Methods: COPD patients were enrolled and asked to keep as active as possible. Physical activities were measured by the uni-axial accelerometer. COPD patients were divided into two groups. One was the group as controls (Group C) and the other was those who used procaterol before or after the exertion when they felt dyspnoea (Group P). Physical activities, ADL and QoL in the daily life were compared during the observational and the experimental periods for each one month. Statistical analyses were done by two-way ANOVA. A p< 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Forty four patients were enrolled and 37 completed the study. Table 1 Group C Group P M/F 19/0 16/2 n.s. Age (years) 73.5±5.7 69.0±8.7 n.s. %FEV 1 (%) 57.4±15.1 51.0±17.1 n.s. OB EX OB EX Average steps per day 5659±3267 5314±3436 5230±3130 5453±3013 n.s. Mild level of physical activity (%) 24.6±8.4 22.6±7.6 27.4±11.1 28.1±11.3 p <0.05 OB, observational period; EX, experimental period. And vitality domain of the SF-36 improved in Group P during the experimental period. Conclusion: The assistant use of SABA inhalation may maintain the mild level of physical activity and increase vitality in the daily life in COPD patients.