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Background: Maximal treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise testing is the gold standard for assessing functional capacity in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)., Purpose: Primarily to investigate the concurrent validity between three field tests and cardiopulmonary exercise testing in these patients., Methods: Patients performed the cardiopulmonary exercise testing, a six-minute walk test, an incremental shuttle walk test, and, the Glittre-ADL test. For cardiopulmonary exercise testing, the ten seconds with the higher average of the peak oxygen uptake obtained within the last 30 seconds were considered; for six-minute walk test and incremental shuttle walk test, the longer distance; and for the Glittre-ADL test, the shorter time spent. Concurrent validity was assessed using different regression models based on the best adjustment of the data., Results: Twenty-two patients with IPF were assessed, aged: 68 ± 8.1 years, 13 male. Patients presented a peak oxygen uptake of 16.5 ± 3.6 mL.kg -1. min 1 , achieving a distance of 512.6 ± 102.8 meters in the six-minute walk test and 415.7 ± 125.1 meters in incremental shuttle walk test. The walking distance in the six-minute walk test and the incremental shuttle walk test explained, respectively, 64% and 56% peak oxygen uptake variance observed in the cardiopulmonary exercise testing (R 2  = 0.64, p  < .001; R 2  = 0.56, p  < .001). The time spent in the Glittre-ADL test was 233.4 ± 88.7 seconds and explained 47% of the peak oxygen uptake variance observed in cardiopulmonary exercise testing (R 2  = 0.47, p  = .001)., Conclusion: The six-minute walk test, incremental shuttle walk test, and Glittre-ADL test were considered valid tests to explain the peak oxygen uptake variance obtained by the cardiopulmonary exercise testing in patients with IPF.

Purpose: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) phenotypes may introduce different characteristics that need to be known to improve treatment. Respiratory oscillometry provides a detailed analysis and may offer insight into the pathophysiology of COPD. In this paper, we used this method to evaluate the differences in respiratory mechanics of COPD phenotypes., Patients and Methods: This study investigated a sample of 83 volunteers, being divided into control group (CG = 20), emphysema (n = 23), CB (n = 20) and asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS, n = 20). These analyses were performed before and after bronchodilator (BD) use. Functional capacity was evaluated using the Glittre‑ADL test, handgrip strength and respiratory pressures., Results: Initially it was observed that oscillometry provided a detailed description of the COPD phenotypes, which was consistent with the involved pathophysiology. A correlation between oscillometry and functional capacity was observed (r=-0.541; p = 0.0001), particularly in the emphysema phenotype (r = -0.496, p = 0.031). BD response was different among the studied phenotypes. This resulted in an accurate discrimination of ACOS from CB [area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) = 0.84] and emphysema (AUC = 0.82)., Conclusion: These results offer evidence that oscillatory indices may enhance the comprehension and identification of COPD phenotypes, thereby potentially improving the support provided to these patients., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Teixeira et al.)

Background: For people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) the ability to perform functional activities for a prolonged duration is important for completion of daily tasks. While the Glittre-ADL test measures time taken to complete a series of functional activities, there is no test of endurance capacity for common daily activities., Research Question: Is the Glittre Endurance test a valid and responsive test to measure endurance capacity for functional daily tasks in people with COPD?, Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Fifty-seven participants with COPD (mean ± SD age:69 ± 7 years; FEV 1 :48 ± 18%predicted) were recruited. All participants performed the Glittre-ADL test without a backpack (Glittre-ADL-noBP). Nine participants (Group A) performed a Glittre Endurance test at 90% of the speed to complete one lap of the Glittre-ADL-noBP. 48 participants (Group B) performed two Glittre Endurance tests at 100% of Glittre-ADL-noBP speed. The time to voluntary cessation or not keeping up with target pace was the test outcome., Results: Mean ± SD of the Glittre Endurance test was 12.11 ± 6.43 min and 6.90 ± 4.40 min for the test at 90% and 100% speeds, respectively. When the 100% Glittre Endurance test 2 was compared to test 1, there was a 14% increase in test time, indicating a learning effect (p = 0.005). Following pulmonary rehabilitation (n = 20) the Glittre Endurance test increased by 3.12 min (29%), and the Glittre-ADL-noBP reduced by 0.33 min (10%)., Conclusion: The Glittre Endurance test performed at 100% of the Glittre-ADL-noBP speed provided an appropriate endurance test time, and was more sensitive to change following pulmonary rehabilitation than the Glittre-ADL-noBP., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Purpose: Respiratory oscillometry has emerged as a powerful method for detecting respiratory abnormalities in COPD. However, this method has not been widely introduced into clinical practice. This limitation arises, at least in part, because the clinical meaning of the oscillometric parameters is not clear. In this paper, we evaluated the association of oscillometry with functional capacity and its ability to predict abnormal functional capacity in COPD., Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated a control group formed by 30 healthy subjects and 30 outpatients with COPD. The subjects were classified by the Glittre‑ADL test and handgrip strength according to the functional capacity., Results: This study has shown initially that subjects with abnormal functional capacity had a higher value for resistance (p < 0.05), reactance area (Ax, p < 0.01), impedance modulus (Z4, p < 0.05), and reduced dynamic compliance (Cdyn, p < 0.05) when compared with subjects with normal functional capacity. This resulted in significant and consistent correlations among resistive oscillometric parameters (R=-0.43), Cdyn (R=-0.40), Ax (R = 0.42), and Z4 (R = 0.41) with exercise performance. Additionally, the effects of exercise limitation in COPD were adequately predicted, as evaluated by the area under the curve (AUC) obtained by receiver operating characteristic analysis. The best parameters for this task were R4-R20 (AUC = 0.779) and Ax (AUC = 0.752)., Conclusion: Respiratory oscillometry provides information related to functional capacity in COPD. This method is also able to predict low exercise tolerance in these patients. These findings elucidate the physiological and clinical meaning of the oscillometric parameters, improving the interpretation of these parameters in COPD patients., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2022 Ribeiro et al.)

Objective: The Glittre-ADL test (GA-T) is a functional capacity test that stands out for encompassing multiple tasks similar to activities of daily living. As ventilatory efficiency is one of the variables valued in the prognosis of chronic heart failure (CHF), this study aimed to evaluate associations between functional capacity and ventilatory variables in patients with CHF during the GA-T., Results: Eight patients with CHF and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification II-III underwent the GA-T coupled with metabolic gas analysis to obtain data by means of telemetry. The median total GA-T time was 00:04:39 (00:03:29-00:05:53). Borg dyspnoea scale scores before and after the GA-T were 2 (0-9) and 3 (1-10), respectively (P = 0.011). The relationship between the regression slope relating minute ventilation to carbon dioxide output (VE/VCO 2 slope) was correlated with the total GA-T time (r s  = 0.714, P = 0.047) and Borg dyspnoea score (r s  = 0.761, P = 0.028). The other ventilatory variables showed no significant correlations. Our results suggest that the total GA-T time can be applied to estimate the ventilatory efficiency of patients with CHF. Future studies may use the GA-T in conjunction with other functional capacity tests to guide the treatment plan and evaluate the prognosis.