The effectiveness of an accelerometer-based physical activity enhancement intervention for patients undergoing lung resection - A pilot randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: Increasing physical activity after lung resection is important for maintaining quality of life. It is unclear whether accelerometer-based exercise instruction contributes to increasing daily physical activity after lung resection. We examine whether accelerometer-based exercise instruction will lead to increased physical activity in patients undergoing lung resection.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-six patients undergoing lung resection were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n = 22) or the control group (n = 24). Twelve participants dropped out. Ultimately, 16 participants in the intervention group and 18 participants in the control group were eligible for analysis. Each group allocation was only known to the person in charge of allocation. The physiotherapists and assessors were not blinded in this study. The intervention group participated in a postoperative rehabilitation program and received physical activity instruction preoperatively and at discharge. The control group participated in a postoperative rehabilitation program only. The primary outcomes was physical activity such as the number of daily steps, light intensity physical activity (LPA) and moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) at the two month postoperative follow-up.

RESULTS: Thirty-four participants were enrolled in this study. Sixteen participants in the intervention group and 18 participants in the control group were included for analysis. Although there was no significant difference in physical activity at baseline, the number of daily steps in the intervention group at the two month postoperative follow-up was significantly higher than that in the control group (8039.2 ± 3480.8 vs. 4887.0 ± 2376.5 steps/day, p = 0.004). Compared to the control group, the intervention group also had greater increases in LPA (63.8 ± 25.1 vs. 44.5 ± 24.5 min/day, p = 0.030) and MVPA (20.2 ± 19.6 vs. 9.6 ± 8.6 min/day, p = 0.022).

CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that accelerometer-based exercise instruction led to an increase in physical activity after lung resection in an unsupervised setting.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: The University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN trial No. UMIN000039369).