Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29993339›Full record

SynthesisTherapeutic advances in respiratory disease

Using step counters to promote physical activity and exercise capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a meta-analysis.

Shanhu Qiu, Xue Cai, Xuyi Wang, Can He, Martina Zügel, Jürgen Michael Steinacker, Uwe Schumann

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Therapeutic advances in respiratory disease. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Physical activity promotion interventions in chronic airways disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2023
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  11. Use of pedometers as a tool to promote daily physical activity levels in patients with COPD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2019
    Pooled it
  12. Trial
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  15. Review
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  17. Physical activity monitoring-based interventions in geriatric patients: a scoping review on intervention components and clinical applicability.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2023
    Article
  18. Effects of Pedometer-Based Step-Feedback on Physical Activity of Severe COPD Patients.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2023
    Article
  19. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Shanhu QiuDepartment of Endocrinology, Zhongda Hospital, Institute of Diabetes, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Dingjiaqiao No. 87, Nanjing, China.ORCID 0000-0003-2597-3856
Xue CaiDepartment of Endocrinology, Zhongda Hospital, Institute of Diabetes, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Xuyi WangDepartment of Endocrinology, Zhongda Hospital, Institute of Diabetes, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Can HeDepartment of Pneumology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Martina ZügelDivision of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.
Jürgen Michael SteinackerDivision of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.
Uwe SchumannDivision of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.
Zhongda Hospital Southeast University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough step counters are popularly employed for physical rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, their effectiveness is inconsistent and even questioned. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate whether step counter use increases physical activity or improves exercise capacity in COPD patients.

methodsElectronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials that assessed the efficacy of step counter use in increasing physical activity or in improving exercise capacity. Data were aggregated using a random-effects model to get the overall effect sizes [standard mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI)], and subgroup analyses were performed.

resultsA total of 15 trials enrolling 1316 patients with moderate to severe COPD were included. Step counter use increased physical activity compared with controls (SMD = 0.57, 95% CI 0.31-0.84), which is equal to a magnitude of 1026 steps/day in daily steps. It also enhanced exercise capacity with an effect size of 0.30 (95% CI 0.16-0.45), approximating to a magnitude of 11.6 m in the 6-min walking distance. Step counter use could augment physical activity (SMD = 0.64, 95% CI 0.19-1.08) and exercise capacity (SMD = 0.32, 95% CI 0.01-0.62) for patients receiving pulmonary rehabilitation. Yet it cannot enhance physical activity or exercise capacity in patients with severe COPD or among studies with intervention durations ⩾6 months (both p > 0.50).

conclusionsStep counter use increases physical activity and improves exercise capacity in COPD patients, at least in the short term, which supports the notion of recommending step counter use in COPD management.

Indexed as

ExerciseExercise ToleranceFitness TrackersActigraphyExercise TherapyHealth PromotionHumansLungPulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRecovery of FunctionSeverity of Illness IndexTime FactorsTreatment Outcomechronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseexercise capacityphysical activitystep counter

Identifiers

PMID29993339
PMCPMC6048621
OpenAlexW2847881387

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.