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Functional status measurement in COPD: a review of available methods and their feasibility in primary care
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  • Article
  • Published: 26 April 2011

Functional status measurement in COPD: a review of available methods and their feasibility in primary care

  • Janwillem WH Kocks1,2,
  • Guus M Asijee3,4,
  • Ioanna G Tsiligianni1,2,5,
  • Huib AM Kerstjens1,6 &
  • …
  • Thys van der Molen1,2 

Primary Care Respiratory Journal volume 20, pages 269–275 (2011)Cite this article

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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.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Practice, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Janwillem WH Kocks, Ioanna G Tsiligianni, Huib AM Kerstjens & Thys van der Molen

  2. Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Janwillem WH Kocks, Ioanna G Tsiligianni & Thys van der Molen

  3. Boehringer Ingelheim, Alkmaar, The Netherlands

    Guus M Asijee

  4. Department of General Practice, Caphri Institute, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Guus M Asijee

  5. Agia Barbara Health Care Centre, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Ioanna G Tsiligianni

  6. Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Huib AM Kerstjens

Authors
  1. Janwillem WH Kocks
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  2. Guus M Asijee
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  3. Ioanna G Tsiligianni
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  4. Huib AM Kerstjens
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  5. Thys van der Molen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janwillem WH Kocks.

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Competing interests

GMA is an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim, The Netherlands.

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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

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  • Received: 08 December 2010

  • Revised: 17 January 2011

  • Accepted: 18 January 2011

  • Published: 26 April 2011

  • Issue date: September 2011

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.4104/pcrj.2011.00031

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Associated content

COPD: functional status, health status and primary care

  • Paul W Jones
Primary Care Respiratory Journal Editorial 02 Aug 2011

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