The prevalence of sarcopenia in Parkinson's disease and related disorders- a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of sarcopenia (reduced skeletal muscle strength and mass), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Parkinson's related disorders (PRD) all increase with age. They also share risk factors and pathogenetic features. An increased prevalence of sarcopenia in PD and PRD than the general population was thus postulated. METHODS: Four databases were searched using predefined literature search strategies. Studies conducted in participants with PD or PRD reporting the prevalence of sarcopenia and those providing data to compute the prevalence were included. Pre-sarcopenia, probable/possible sarcopenia and confirmed sarcopenia were defined according to the main sarcopenia working groups. Risk of bias was assessed using the AXIS tool. RESULTS: 1978 studies were identified; 97 assessed in full; 14 met inclusion criteria. The median study quality score was 15/20. The range of probable sarcopenia was 23.9 to 66.7%, and it did not change after excluding PRD participants. The prevalence of confirmed sarcopenia in participants with any parkinsonian disorder ranged from 2 to 31.4%. Including just PD participants, the range was 10.9 to 31.4%. In studies with controls, sarcopenia was more prevalent in PD and PRD. There was a positive non-significant trend between severity of motor symptoms and prevalence of sarcopenia or components of sarcopenia. High heterogeneity precluded meta-analysis, therefore there was insufficient evidence to conclude whether sarcopenia is more prevalent in PD or PRD. CONCLUSIONS: Probable and confirmed sarcopenia are common in PD and PRD and they may be associated with disease severity. This co-occurrence supports the value of screening for sarcopenia in parkinsonian populations.

Sedentary time in people with obstructive airway diseases.

Sedentary time (ST) and light-intensity physical activity (LIPA) are movement behaviours associated with important health outcomes, but are not widely explored in respiratory diseases. We aimed to describe their volume and/or accumulation patterns in moderate-severe COPD, bronchiectasis and severe asthma using the accurate postural-based accelerometer activPAL, contrasting these values with a non-respiratory population. We also sought to test the cross-sectional associations of these behaviours with disease characteristics by diagnostic group, and as a combined label-free disease group. RESULTS: Adults with COPD (n = 64), bronchiectasis (n = 61), severe asthma (n = 27), and controls (n = 61) underwent cross-sectional measurements of volume and/or accumulation patterns of ST and LIPA. The prevalence and characteristics, and associations with exercise capacity, health-status, airflow-limitation, dyspnoea, systemic inflammation and exacerbations were analysed. ST volumes in COPD were higher than that of bronchiectasis and severe asthma. Values in bronchiectasis and severe asthma were similar to each other and controls (≈8.9 h/day). Their accumulation patterns were also significantly better than in COPD, but similar if not worse compared to controls. LIPA volumes in bronchiectasis and severe asthma were also higher than those of COPD (p < 0.05) and controls. In bronchiectasis and COPD, lower levels/better patterns of ST accumulation, as well as higher LIPA volume were associated with better clinical characteristics. These associations may be mediated by airflow limitation. CONCLUSIONS: The discordance between engagement in ST volume versus ST patterns highlights the importance of accounting for both these different yet complementary metrics. ST and LIPA are low-intensity activities associated with important clinical characteristics in people with chronic respiratory diseases. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

Identification of asthma phenotypes based on extrapulmonary treatable traits.

Asthma is a heterogeneous and complex disease, and a description of asthma phenotypes based on extrapulmonary treatable traits has not been previously reported.The objective of this study was to identify and characterise clusters based on clinical, functional, anthropometrical and psychological characteristics in participants with moderate-to-severe asthma.This was a cross-sectional multicentre study involving centres from Brazil and Australia. Participants (n=296) with moderate-to-severe asthma were consecutively recruited. Physical activity and sedentary time, clinical asthma control, anthropometric data, pulmonary function and psychological and health status were evaluated. Participants were classified by hierarchical cluster analysis and the clusters compared using ANOVA, Kruskal--Wallis and Chi-squared tests. Multiple logistic and linear regression models were performed to evaluate the association between variables.We identified four clusters: 1) participants with controlled asthma who were physically active; 2) participants with uncontrolled asthma who were physically inactive and more sedentary; 3) participants with uncontrolled asthma and low physical activity, who were also obese and experienced anxiety and/or depression symptoms; and 4) participants with very uncontrolled asthma who were physically inactive, more sedentary, obese and experienced anxiety and/or depression symptoms. Higher levels of sedentary time, female sex and anxiety symptoms were associated with increased odds of exacerbation risk, while being more active showed a protective factor for hospitalisation. Asthma control was associated with sex, the occurrence of exacerbation, physical activity and health status.Physical inactivity, obesity and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression were associated with worse asthma outcomes, and closely and inextricably associated with asthma control. This cluster analysis highlights the importance of assessing extrapulmonary traits to improve personalised management and outcomes for people with moderate and severe asthma.

Targeting treatable traits in severe asthma: a randomised controlled trial.

RATIONALE: Treatable traits have been proposed as a new paradigm for airway disease management. OBJECTIVES: To characterise treatable traits in a severe asthma population and to determine the efficacy of targeting treatments to these treatable traits in severe asthma. METHODS: Participants (n=140) with severe asthma were recruited to a cross-sectional study and underwent a multidimensional assessment to characterise treatable traits. Eligible participants with severe asthma (n=55) participated in a 16-week parallel-group randomised controlled trial to determine the feasibility and efficacy of management targeted to predefined treatable traits, compared to usual care in a severe asthma clinic. The patient-reported outcome of health-related quality of life was the trial's primary end-point. MAIN RESULTS: Participants with severe asthma had a mean±sd of 10.44±3.03 traits per person, comprising 3.01±1.54 pulmonary and 4.85±1.86 extrapulmonary traits and 2.58±1.31 behavioural/risk factors. Individualised treatment that targeted the traits was feasible and led to significantly improved health-related quality of life (0.86 units, p<0.001) and asthma control (0.73, p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Multidimensional assessment enables detection of treatable traits and identifies a significant trait burden in severe asthma. Targeting these treatable traits using a personalised-medicine approach in severe asthma leads to improvements in health-related quality of life, asthma control and reduced primary care acute visits. Treatable traits may be an effective way to address the complexity of severe asthma.

Extrapulmonary associations of health status in severe asthma and bronchiectasis: Comorbidities and functional outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Severe asthma and bronchiectasis are heterogeneous diseases that contribute to disability beyond the pulmonary system. The magnitude of the impact that these extrapulmonary features has on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is unknown. METHODS: We analysed the cross-sectional relationships between HRQoL (St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire; SGRQ) and extrapulmonary characteristics, including physical activity (steps/day), anxiety and depression, isometric leg strength, systemic inflammation, and several comorbidities in adults with severe asthma (n = 70) and bronchiectasis (n = 61). RESULTS: Participants with severe asthma and bronchiectasis had similar SGRQ total scores (mean scores 43.7 and 37.8 for severe asthma and bronchiectasis; p > 0.05), and similar pulmonary and extrapulmonary characteristics. The associations between extrapulmonary variables and HRQoL did not differ according to diagnosis (all interactions p > 0.05). Greater anxiety and depressive symptoms, fewer steps/day and greater systemic inflammation were statistically associated with poorer HRQoL in both diseases (p < 0.05). Lower isometric leg strength in severe asthma, and greater Charlson Comorbidity Index in bronchiectasis were also associated with poorer HRQoL (p < 0.05). In the multivariable regression model performed in the combined disease groups, anxiety and depression, steps/day, systemic inflammation and isometric leg strength remained independently associated with HRQoL. Associations between extrapulmonary characteristics and SGRQ domains were stronger for the activity and impact domains, than symptoms. CONCLUSION: In severe asthma and bronchiectasis, extrapulmonary features including physical activity and leg strength have a significant impact on HRQoL, especially within the activity and impact domains. These features should be considered as part of the assessment of these conditions, and they may represent additional treatment targets to improve HRQoL.

Physical activity associates with disease characteristics of severe asthma, bronchiectasis and COPD.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Physical activity (PA) in obstructive airway diseases (OAD) is likely to be impaired but this has not been extensively studied outside of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We describe PA levels in severe asthma and bronchiectasis compared to moderate-severe COPD and to controls, and tested the cross-sectional associations of PA (steps/day) with shared disease characteristics in the OAD group. METHODS: Adults with OAD (severe asthma = 62, COPD = 67, bronchiectasis = 60) and controls (n = 63) underwent a multidimensional assessment, including device-measured PA levels. RESULTS: The OAD group included 189 participants (58.7% females), with median (interquartile range) age of 67 (58-72) years and mean forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1 ) % predicted of 69.4%. Demographic characteristics differed between groups. Compared to controls (52.4% females, aged 55 (34-64) years, median 7640 steps/day), those with severe asthma, bronchiectasis and COPD accumulated less steps/day: median difference of -2255, -2289, and -4782, respectively (P ≤ 0.001). Compared to COPD, severe asthma and bronchiectasis participants accumulated more steps/day: median difference of 2375 and 2341, respectively (P ≤ 0.001). No significant differences were found between the severe asthma and bronchiectasis group. Exercise capacity, FEV1 % predicted, dyspnoea and systemic inflammation differed between groups, but were each significantly associated with steps/day in OAD. In the multivariable model adjusted for all disease characteristics, exercise capacity and FEV1 % predicted remained significantly associated. CONCLUSION: PA impairment is common in OAD. The activity level was associated with shared characteristics of these diseases. Interventions to improve PA should be multifactorial and consider the level of impairment and the associated characteristics.

A Systematic Review of Associations of Physical Activity and Sedentary Time with Asthma Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity and high sedentary time are associated with adverse health outcomes in several diseases. However, their impact in asthma is less clear. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to synthesize the literature characterizing physical activity and sedentary time in adults with asthma, to estimate activity levels using meta-analysis, and to evaluate associations between physical activity and sedentary time and the clinical and physiological characteristics of asthma. METHODS: Articles written in English and addressing the measurement of physical activity or sedentary time in adults ≥18 years old with asthma were identified using 4 electronic databases. Meta-analysis was used to estimate steps/day in applicable studies. RESULTS: There were 42 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Physical activity in asthma was lower compared with controls. The pooled mean (95% confidence interval) steps/day for people with asthma was 8390 (7361, 9419). Physical activity tended to be lower in females compared with males, and in older people with asthma compared with their younger counterparts. Higher levels of physical activity were associated with better measures of lung function, disease control, health status, and health care use. Measures of sedentary time were scarce, and indicated a similar engagement in this behavior between participants with asthma and controls. High sedentary time was associated with higher health care use, and poorer lung function, asthma control, and exercise capacity. CONCLUSIONS: People with asthma engage in lower levels of physical activity compared with controls. Higher levels of physical activity may positively impact on asthma clinical outcomes. Sedentary time should be more widely assessed.

Physical Activity and Exercise Capacity in Severe Asthma: Key Clinical Associations.

BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity and sedentary time are distinct behaviors that may be more prevalent in severe asthma, contributing to poor disease outcomes. Physical activity and sedentary time in severe asthma however have not been extensively examined. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to objectively measure physical activity and sedentary time in people with severe asthma compared with age-matched control participants, describing the associations of these behaviors with clinical and biological outcomes. We hypothesized that people with severe asthma would be less active and more sedentary. In addition, more activity and less sedentary time would be associated with better clinical outcomes and markers of systemic and airway inflammation in people with severe asthma. METHODS: Adults with severe asthma (n = 61) and sex- and age-matched controls (n = 61) underwent measurement of lung function, exercise capacity, asthma control, health status, and airway and systemic inflammation. Physical activity and sedentary time were measured using an accelerometer. RESULTS: The severe asthma and control groups were matched in terms of age and sex (32 [53%] females in each group). Individuals with severe asthma accumulated less minutes per day in moderate and higher intensity activity, median (IQR) 21.9 (12.9-36.0) versus 41.7 (29.5-65.2) (P < .0001) and accumulated 2,232 fewer steps per day (P = .0002). However, they engaged in more light-intensity physical activity. No differences were found for sedentary time. In a multivariate regression model, steps per day were strongly and independently associated with better exercise capacity in participants with severe asthma (coefficient, 0.0169; 95% CI, 0.008-0.025; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: People with severe asthma perform less moderate and vigorous activity than do controls. Higher levels of activity and lower levels of sedentary time are associated with better exercise capacity, asthma control, and lower levels of systemic inflammation.