Measurement of functional activity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the grocery shelving task.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a standardized test to evaluate functional performance, including arm activity, of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Fifty-seven patients (mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second % predicted = 46) were recruited to measure reproducibility (n = 10) of a grocery shelving task (GST) over 6 weeks without intervention and responsiveness (n = 47) of the task following a 6-week pulmonary rehabilitation program. In 25 of these patients, the pattern and magnitude of cardiorespiratory responses during the task were compared with the unsupported upper limb exercise test.Time taken to perform the GST was highly reproducible over a 6-week period (ICC = 0.97). Patients demonstrated a significant 8.0% improvement (95% CI, 4.6-11.3) on the task following pulmonary rehabilitation. There were significant correlations for peak cardiorespiratory responses between the GST and the unsupported upper limb exercise test.The findings suggest that a standardized GST is a reproducible, valid, and responsive functional outcome measure that incorporates unsupported arm activity for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.