Home-Based Physical Activity Program with Health Coaching for participants with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Sweden, A Pilot Study

Background: Home-based interventions are at the center stage of current healthcare demands. There is a clear need to translate pulmonary rehabilitation to a home-based setting. This 8-week pilot study aimed to determine the feasibility of a Home-based Physical Activity (HPA) program for 12 participants with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Sweden. Methods: Patients with COPD, age 40 years or older, and clinically stable in the last 3 months were recruited. The program included the use of a fitness tracker to monitor step count, weekly health coaching calls using motivational interviewing, and video-guided mindful movements (tai chi and yoga exercises). The outcome measures were adherence to the eight-week program video-guided exercises (number of times videos were watched), adherence to health coaching calls (minimum 8), monthly and daily step count, and quality of life (QoL) using the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire, (CRQ). Results: Thirteen participants were enrolled, and one participant dropped out. Twelve participants adhered to 8-weeks of health coaching calls and step monitoring. We had a total of 643 video-exercise views, the compliance exceeded the minimum standard (576 views). The mean difference comparing total monthly steps from baseline and the eight-week time point was 47 039 steps (CI – 113625-1623.5, p=0.06). The minimal clinical improvement of 500 daily steps was found for 8 of the patients. No significant improvement was found in the QoL measures and mental health. Conclusions: We found the HPA program to be a feasible intervention. Patients showed high adherence to tracking step counts, health coaching calls, and video-guided exercise. No improvements in QoL or monthly step count emerged, however, we found high compliance and a positive trend in the number of monthly step counts, and improvements of at least 500 daily step counts improved in most patients with this small sample size.