Asthma
Conditions
Brief summary
This controlled study is undertaken to investigate the effects of a long term outpatient training program on physical fitness and quality of life in elderly asthmatics.
Detailed description
Physical training is well known to support a healthy lifestyle. Patients with asthma are often unnecessarily restricted of physical activities or avoid exercise due to the unpleasant experience of exercise-induced dyspnea. As a consequence both children and adults with asthma are less fit than their peers. Like in healthy individuals, regular training supports health in asthmatics. In short-term training programs improvements of physical capabilities have been achieved in children and young adults with asthma. Programs of longer durations than 3 months have not been published in controlled trials. Effects of exercise training on quality of life in adult asthmatics are lacking.
Interventions
PROCEDUREExercise training
Exercise training in outpatient sport groups once weekly with a duration of 60 min each
Sponsors
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* physician diagnosed asthma * non-smoker * stable condition * informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* participation in pulmonary rehabilitation in the past 12 months prior to study inclusion * unability to attend training sessions on a regular basis for one year * symptomatic coronary heart disease * uncontrolled heart failure * hemodynamically relevant cardiac rhythm disorders * hemodynamically relevant cardiac valvular disorders * uncontrolled arterial hypertension * hypercapnic respiratory failure * severe hypoxemia (i.e. PaO2 \<50 mm Hg resp. SaO2 \<80% at rest) * history of decompensated right heart failure * pulmonary arterial hypertension (PA mean pressure at rest \>20 mm Hg) * severe osteoporosis * severe airway obstruction (FEV1 \<50% predicted, FEV1 \<60% predicted following bronchodilatation) * maximum work rate of less than 50 watt during ergometer testing * uncontrolled asthma * COPD exacerbation * severe adipositas (BMI \>35 kg/m2)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum oxygen uptake | One year | Maximum oxygen uptake measured during unsteady state cycle ergometer test with work increments of 10 watts each minute until exhaustion. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| General quality of life | One year | Assessment of general quality of life using the german version of the SF-36 questionaire. |
| Disease-specific quality of life | One year | Assessment of the disease-specific quality of life using the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed