TY - JOUR T1 - Activity limitation: a major consequence of dyspnoea in COPD JF - European Respiratory Review JO - EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW SP - 54 LP - 57 DO - 10.1183/09059180.00001309 VL - 18 IS - 112 AU - N. Roche Y1 - 2009/06/01 UR - http://err.ersjournals.com/content/18/112/54.abstract N2 - In the present issue of the European Respiratory Review, Jolley and Moxham [1] present “A physiological model of patient-reported breathlessness during daily activities in COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]”. The purpose of their interesting approach is to explain why a given patient may experience breathlessness in some particular situations of his/her daily life, based on the various possible mechanisms of dyspnoea in COPD. This understanding may obviously help in building individualised relieving strategies through counselling and education, occupational therapy, pharmacological agents and physical training.The ultimate goal of targeting dyspnoea is to improve health status and survival by allowing the patient to increase his/her daily activity. Therefore, to implement the appropriate strategies, the clinician first needs to apprehend the extent to which, and the reasons why, a patient limits this activity. The purpose of this editorial is to increase the awareness of this important aspect of COPD care and to provide clinicians with a few key points for discussion.Activity limitation has both quantitative and qualitative aspects: on the one hand, it refers to the reduction in the daily amount (i.e. intensity, frequency and duration) of activity; on the other hand, it covers the discomfort induced by activities that are still performed in a normal or near-normal amount. Many studies have found a marked reduction in the level of daily physical activity in patients with COPD, including those with moderately to mildy impaired lung function, compared with control populations with similar sociodemographic characteristics (fig. 1⇓) [3–5]. Factors independently associated with the level of daily physical activity include sociodemographic characteristics (activity is decreased in females, older patients and those with a higher socioeconomic status), comorbidity, quality of life, disease severity and the use of long-term oxygen therapy [4, 6]. … ER -