Characteristics of included studies
| First author [ref.] | I/C | Age years | FEV1 % pred L | Male/female | Patient recruitment | Intervention arm | Control arm | Type of feedback | Weekly goals | Time-points/outcomes |
| Altenburg [14] | 24/24 | 65 (58–72) | 78 (66–95) | 32/16 | General practices (primary care) | PA counselling 30 min ×5 sessions using MI, GS and pedometer: 12 weeks | Received care appropriate to their health status | Face-to-face | No | 3 months/daily steps |
| Altenburg [14] | 23/23 | 68 (61–72) | 58 (40–69) | 34/12 | Outpatient hospital clinics (secondary care) | PA counselling 30 min ×5 sessions using MI, GS and pedometer: 12 weeks Patients were recruited from outpatient hospital clinics (secondary care) | Received care appropriate to their health status | Face-to-face | No | 3 months/daily steps |
| Altenburg [14] | 22/15 | 54±9.6 | 43±25.9 | 32/25 | Pulmonary rehabilitation centre | PA counselling (30 min ×5 sessions using MI, GS and pedometer 12 weeks) added to PR 2 h 3 times per week: 9 weeks | PR 2 h 3 times per week: 9 weeks | Face-to-face | No | 3 months/daily steps |
| Arbillaga-Etxarri [20] | 220/293 | 69±9 | 58±17 | 448/65 | Primary care and 5 hospital care centres | Six components: MI, urban walking training walking, pedometer and personalised calendar, phone updates, exercise leaflet, group walking sessions | General health counselling and info booklet | Remote | No | 12 months/daily steps |
| Bender [21] | 57/58 | 65±7 | 54.3±11 | 48/67 | Pulmonary outpatient clinics | Pedometer and personally selected goals involving enjoyed activities of daily living A target of increasing 15% daily steps per month for 3 months | Pedometer with no goal setting or communication about physical activity. A small 1-1 telephone call to communicate daily steps | Remote | No | 3 months/daily steps |
| Cruz [15] | 16/16 | 66.5±8.4 | 66.9±20.1 | 27/5 | 3 primary care centres and a district hospital | PA-focused behavioural counselling (average 25 min ×8 sessions using SCT, SE, MI and pedometer and diary feedback: 6 months) added to PR (1 h 3 times per week ET and 1.5 h once a week EDU session: 3 months) | PR (1 h 3 times per week ET and 1.5 h once a week EDU session: 3 months) | Face-to-face | Yes | 3 months/daily steps |
| De Blok [22] | 172/171 | 67±8 | 56±20 | 219/124 | N/A | Lifestyle PA counselling (3 min ×4 sessions using MI, GS and pedometer: 9 weeks) added to PR (9 weeks) | PR (9 weeks) | Face-to-face | No | 9 weeks/daily steps |
| Demeyer [13] | 172/171 | 67±8 | 56±20 | 219/124 | 6 rehabilitation centres across Europe | Received the usual care plus the tele-coaching platform This includes a one-to-one interview, a step counter and smartphone coaching application | Received a standard leaflet explaining the importance of PA in COPD as well as information about PA recommendations | Remote | Yes | 3 months/daily steps |
| Holland [23] | 80/86 | 69±11 | 50±19 | 99/67 | Pulmonary rehabilitation waiting list | Home rehabilitation, which involved a pedometer and 7-weekly structured telephone calls based around motivational interviewing to improve walking fitness | Centre-based rehabilitation with encouragement to exercise at home, no pedometer issued | Remote | No | 12 months/daily steps |
| Horrnix [24] | 15/15 | 67±7 | 43±17 | 17/13 | Hospitalised exacerbation patients | Pedometer worn with telephone calls three times per week for 1 month to motivate and stimulate patients to increase their PA levels | No contact and didn't received any motivational messages, just advice about increasing PA before hospital discharge | Remote | Yes | 1-month, daily steps |
| Hospes [25] | 18/17 | 62±8 | 64±15 | 21/14 | Outpatient clinic | 12-week customised exercise counselling to enhance daily physical activity Based on principles of goal setting and implementation of goals | No counselling programmes | Face-to-face | No | 3 months/daily steps |
| Kawagoshi [26] | 12/15 | 75±9 | 59.3±22 | 24/3 | N/A | Home-based rehabilitation in addition to monitored daily physical activity using pedometer and received monthly feedback on physical activity levels | Multidisciplinary home-based PR programme for 12 months | Face-to-face | No | 12 months, daily steps |
| Mendoza [27] | 52/50 | 68±8 | 66±19 | 62/40 | Outpatient clinics at private and public hospitals | Received pedometer and physical activity diary alongside counselling to improve physical activity | Received counselling at each visit to increase their physical activity levels and advised to walk for at least 30 min per day | Face-to-face | No | 3 months/daily steps |
| Moy [28] | 154/84 | 66±9 | 223/15 | National Database of Veterans | Pedometer and access to a website with components including; step count feedback, weekly goals, motivational content to enhance activity levels | Wore pedometer and recorded steps. Received no instruction about exercise and were not assigned step goals or website | Remote | Yes | 4 months/daily steps | |
| Nolan [29] | 76/76 | 69.0±9.0 | 50.5±21.2 | 110/42 | Hospital-based PR unit | Lifestyle PA counselling (30 mins ×8 sessions using GS and pedometer: 8 weeks) added to PR (1 h ×2 times per week: 8 weeks) | PR (1 h ×2 time per week: 8 weeks) | Face-to-face | Yes | 9 weeks/daily steps |
| Tabak [30] | 14/16 | 66±7 | 52±13 | 19/11 | Hospital clinic | Tele-rehabilitation intervention for 4 weeks | Received no tele-rehabilitation Usual care was defined as usual medication/physiotherapy | Remote | Yes | 1 month/daily steps |
| Varas [31] | 21/19 | 67±8 | 49±16 | 31/9 | Pulmonology consultants | 5 group physiotherapy sessions, 8 weeks counselling to increase daily activity levels, through telephone meetings | Informative sessions on the benefits of exercise, pedometer issued but no additional support | Remote | Yes | 8 weeks/daily steps |
| Vorrnik [32] | 84/73 | 62±9 | 55±17 | 78/79 | Outpatient physiotherapy practises | Consisted of two compartments: 1) smartphone application; 2) physiotherapist-based website for providing real-time goals and feedback for 6 months | No intervention | Remote | Yes | 3 months/daily steps |
| Wan [33] | 57/52 | 68±8 | 61±21 | 95/14 | General pulmonary clinics | Pedometer and received access to a website which provided four key components; individualised goal setting, iterative step-count feedback, motivational content and online community forum for 3 months | Received a pedometer and written material about exercise but weren't assigned step-count goals | Remote | Yes | 3 months, daily steps |
Data are presented as n, mean±sd or mean (range). FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; PA: physical activity; N/A: not applicable; PR: pulmonary rehabilitation; MI: motivational interviewing; GS: goal setting; SCT: social cognitive theory; SE: self-efficacy; ET: exercise training; EDU: education.