Abstract
Aims
Guidelines advocate that improvement in functional status should be a major goal in COPD treatment. Many tools are available to assess aspects of functional status. This review aims to categorise systematically the available tools based on their construct (i.e. what the tool intends to measure) and to rate the tools for use in the primary care setting.
Methods
PubMed was searched with the keywords ‘functional status’ or ‘physical capacity’ or ‘functional capacity’ and ‘COPD’. All tools were categorised and rated on their measurement properties, feasibility, and usage in primary care COPD patients. The tools were divided into four constructs — functional capacity, functional performance, functional reserve, and capacity utilisation — and used the following modes of measurement: laboratory tests; semi-laboratory tests; field tests; and patient-reported outcomes.
Results
The PubMed search resulted in 364 articles. Thirty-two tools were identified and rated.
Conclusions
In primary care, the 6-minute walking distance test is the most reliable semi-laboratory functional capacity test, but is not very practical. The pedometer is the best functional performance field test. The Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnoea questionnaire and the functional status domain of the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) are the best patient-reported outcome tools to assess functional performance.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
GMA is an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim, The Netherlands.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kocks, J., Asijee, G., Tsiligianni, I. et al. Functional status measurement in COPD: a review of available methods and their feasibility in primary care. Prim Care Respir J 20, 269–275 (2011). https://doi.org/10.4104/pcrj.2011.00031
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4104/pcrj.2011.00031
This article is cited by
-
One-minute sit-to-stand test as a quick functional test for people with COPD in general practice
npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine (2023)
-
Targeting exertional breathlessness to improve physical activity: the role of primary care
npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine (2021)
-
Patient outcomes following GPs’ educations about COPD: a cluster randomized controlled trial
npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine (2020)
-
Physical function decline and degradation of postural sway dynamics in asymptomatic sedentary postmenopausal women
The journal of nutrition, health & aging (2015)
-
PROLONG: a cluster controlled trial to examine identification of patients with COPD with poor prognosis and implementation of proactive palliative care
BMC Pulmonary Medicine (2014)