The Energy Costs of Daily Physical Activities in Elderly People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

<bold>Background:</bold> Elderly individuals with and without COPD demonstrate distinct resting energy expenditure and movement patterns compared to younger adults, making it difficult to assess their total daily energy requirements. Understanding energy expenditure patterns in older adults (COPD/non-COPD) could be beneficial for optimizing daily activity and dietary recommendations. <bold>Objective:</bold> We aimed to investigate the energy costs of common daily activities in elderly subjects, with and without COPD. <bold>Methods:</bold> We recruited participants aged ≥60 years who either had a history of COPD or were healthy. Both groups were instructed to perform 7 activities: 10 minutes of rest followed by 6 different low- and moderate-intensity activities, each lasting ≥5 minutes. During testing, we continuously monitored their oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate, and ventilation parameters using a portable metabolic measurement system (Oxycon mobile®). Then, we compared the VO2 and metabolic equivalent of task (MET) for each activity between the healthy and COPD groups. <bold>Results:</bold> A total of 55 subjects participated, with 26 in the COPD group. The mean(SD) age was 69.2(5.6) years for COPD group and 64.1(4.5) years for healthy group. There was significantly higher VO2 for the arm swing activity in the COPD group compared to the healthy group, with mean(SD) of 7.9(1.4)ml/kg/min versus 6.8(1.0)ml/kg/min, respectively (p = 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in VO2 between the two groups for the other activities. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> There were no significant differences in energy cost for low- and moderate-intensity activities between elderly individuals with and without COPD, except for the arm swing activity.