Physical activity in adult patients with asthma: trends over time (2014-2020)

<bold>Introduction:</bold> Physical activity (PA) is essential in patients with asthma. The aims were: 1) To assess trends in the prevalence of PA in adult patients with asthma from 2014 to 2020; 2) to identify factors associated with PA in these patients; and 3) to compare PA between individuals with and without asthma. <bold>Methods:</bold> This is a cross-sectional case-control study. European Health Surveys in Spain (EHSS) conducted in 2014 and 2020 were analyzed. Individuals with and without asthma were compared after matching for age and sex. <bold>Results:</bold> The number of asthma patients was 1262 and 1103 in 2014 and 2020 EHSS, respectively. The prevalence of occasional or frequent PA remained stable, with values of 57.2% in the 2014 EHSS and 55.7% in the 2020 EHSS (p=0.45), while the proportion of subjects with asthma who reported walking continuously for at least 2 days a week increased significantly, from 73.9% to 82.2% (p<0.001). Women with asthma reported less physical activity in both surveys than men. Moreover, patients with asthma had significantly lower prevalence of occasional or frequent PA than controls for all studied covariables, except for current smokers. Multivariable analysis confirmed this trend in patients with asthma and showed that being male, younger, having a better self-rated health assessment, and lower body mass index (BMI) were significantly associated with higher physical activity. <bold>Conclusions:</bold> The temporal trend of PA in adults with asthma is favorable in Spain. The prevalence of insufficient PA is higher in these patients than in the general population. Differences by sex are detected, with PA being significantly more frequent among men with asthma than among women with this disease.