Physical activity and asthma clinical control: how many steps per day are necessary?

<bold>Background:</bold> Physical activity and sedentary behavior may impact asthma control, but this remains poorly understood. Furthermore, no amount of daily physical activity has been proposed to improve asthma control. <bold>Aim:</bold> To evaluate the influence of physical activity and sedentary behavior on clinical control in adults with asthma. <bold>Methods:</bold> This cross-sectional multicentric study included 426 individuals with moderate-to-severe asthma. Assessments included physical activity (steps/day) and sedentary time (triaxial accelerometry), clinical asthma control (Asthma Control Questionnaire [ACQ]), quality of life (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire [AQLQ]), anxiety and depression symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), anthropometric data, and lung function. <bold>Results:</bold> Participants who walked ≥7,500 steps/day (active group) presented better ACQ scores than those who walked <7,500 steps/day (p<0.05), independent of sedentary status. The percentage of patients with controlled asthma was higher in the active groups (43%) independent of sedentary status (p<0.02). The likelihood of having uncontrolled asthma according to the treatable traits of physical inactivity (odds ratio [95% CI]: 2.36 [1.55-3.59]), higher anxiety (2.26 [1.49-3.42]), and depression symptoms (1.95 [1.28-2.95]) was significant (p≤0.002). <bold>Conclusion:</bold> Our results show that ≥7,500 steps/day is associated with better asthma control independent of sedentary time in adults with moderate-to-severe asthma. Physical inactivity, anxiety and depression symptoms are also independently associated with higher odds of uncontrolled asthma.