Patients with difficult-to-control asthma who presented with overweight/obesity engaged in less physical activity (PA) and activity of reduced intensity and volume, according to a study published in the Journal of Asthma. Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis using 7-day recordings from wrist accelerometers to compare PA between patients with difficult-to-control asthma and elevated BMI (DOW), and two groups with mild-to-moderate asthma, one with BMI less than 25kg/m2 (MHW) and one with BMI of at least 25 kg/m2 (MOW). Light (LPA), moderate vigorous PA (MVPA), and inactive time were assessed, along with two novel metrics: intensity gradient (IG) reflecting PA intensity, and average acceleration (AA) reflecting PA volume. In the DOW versus MHW and MOW groups, inactive time was notably higher (P<0.001), and LPA (P<0.007), MVPA (P<0.001), IG (P<0.001) and AA (P <0.001) were all considerably lower. These results were maintained after adjusting for age and BMI. Increased AA was linked with improvement in several asthma-related outcomes, the study authors noted.
