Indacaterol improves daily physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Background

The current mainstay of therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is long-acting bronchodilators. To date, the effect of indacaterol, a β2-agonist, on activities of daily living in COPD patients is not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of indacaterol with regard to activities of daily living in patients with COPD.

Methods

In this nonrandomized open-label study, 23 patients with COPD were instructed to carry an accelerometer for 4 weeks without indacaterol therapy and then for another period of 4 weeks while receiving indacaterol therapy.

Results

The number of steps, duration of moderate or greater physical activity, and energy expenditure were significantly increased after treatment with indacaterol compared with baseline data in all patients with COPD; the metabolic equivalent of task was also significantly enhanced after treatment with indacaterol.

Conclusion

This study provides early evidence that indacaterol improves daily physical activity in patients with COPD.

Keywords:

• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• indacaterol
• long-acting β2-agonist
• physical activity

Acknowledgment

The authors are very grateful to Shinobu Taniguchi, Mayumi Asai, and Miyuki Kadomatsu for their kind assistance and cooperation with the completion of this work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.