Measurement of Activities of Daily Living in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous inflammatory lung disease characterized by progressive airway obstruction, which results in exertional dyspnea and physical disability. It is the third leading cause of death worldwide. COPD is a progressive, debilitating and incurable disease with symptoms such as shortness of breath, coughing and fatigue. Its symptoms often interfere with many aspects of daily living. In the advanced stage, patients suffer from dyspnea in association with minor exertion or even at rest, resulting in a gradual impairment of their physical ability.
ADL includes activities and tasks that people routinely perform in their daily life inside/outside their homes.12 Vriendt et al13 divided ADL into 3 domains namely basic activities of daily living (BADL) including self-care behaviors, such as dressing and bathing, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), such as cooking, house chores, and shopping and advanced activities of daily living (AADL), including voluntary behaviors influenced by cultural and motivational factors, which indicate satisfying activities beyond personal independence.
The combination of all three domains of ADL includes all the activities that a person performs in daily life. Approximately, 40% of patients with COPD report a degree of disability and 68% lose at least one relevant function in daily life.
This difference originates from the fact that due to dyspnea COPD patients are sometimes
unable to carry out the task, despite having the physical capacity to do it. Relief from dyspnea during ADL represents the major goal of respiratory rehabilitation and its quantification through
specific instruments (scales) is essential to define disability level and postrehabilitation improvement.
Pulm Res Respir Med Open J. 2017; SE(2): S23-S25. doi: 10.17140/PRRMOJ-SE-2-104
