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 Compared to when they walked unaided, or used a bicycle-like device
called a draisine, COPD patients in the study walked much further
and reported feeling much better using the rollator.
“We have shown that the use of a rollator can be beneficial for
patients with moderate and advanced COPD, in terms of outdoor
walking distance and time,” said lead author Dr. Anouk W Vaes, from
Center of Expertise for Chronic Organ Failure, Horn.
“However, not all patients benefit from its use,” she told Reuter’s
Health in an email. “Therefore, we believe that the needs, daily use
and degree of acceptance by the patients with COPD should be
considered for selection of a walking aid.”
The rollator is basically a sturdy frame with three or four wheels,
handlebars and a built-in-seat that individuals push in front of
them as they walk. The rollators can be fitted with baskets for
carrying personal items.
COPD, a condition often associated with smoking that can include
emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or both, affects 4 to 9 percent of
U.S. adults, depending on region, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
People with COPD have difficulty breathing and become fatigued
easily, so their daily activities are often restricted by an
inability to walk far. They may use oxygen tanks, or inhaled drugs
to open their airways, but there is no cure for the condition.
Vaes and colleagues note in the journal Respirology that past
research has found both rollators and draisines can improve COPD
patients’ walking speed in indoor tests. Those studies include one
by Vaes’ own group, which found the draisine to be a promising aid
to people with mobility problems (see Reuters Health article of
December 29, 2011 here: http://reut.rs/1Ld4k8y).
But those results may not reflect how useful the devices are for
more realistic outdoor, self-paced walking, the authors write. In
the current study, the researchers wanted to test the draisine
against the rollator in “real life” outdoor settings.
The study included 15 individuals with COPD who performed three
self-paced outdoor walking tests on two consecutive days. In the
first test, participants walked unaided, then in the second and
third tests they used the rollator or draisine in random order.
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The participants had to walk as long as possible at their own pace,
and the test ended when they needed to stop or at a maximum cutoff
time of 30 minutes.
When using the rollator, individuals were able to walk the longest
distance and for the greatest length of time. On average, they
covered 1,262 meters (1,380 yards) and walked for almost 19 minutes.
With the draisine, participants covered an average 586 meters (641
yards) and walked for just under eight minutes. Walking unaided,
they averaged 985 meters (1,077 yards) and 14.5 minutes.
In addition, the rollator got the highest marks from participants
for comfort, safety and security.
In email to Reuter’s Health, COPD expert Dr. David Mannino, who was
not involved in the study, pointed out that activity is important
for COPD patients.
“Anything that increases activity is good, and different things work
for different people,” said Mannino, a professor of medicine in the
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the
University of Kentucky in Lexington.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1HS3IOI Respirology, online July 5, 2015.
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