Indacaterol improves daily physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Osamu Hataji,¹ Masahiro Naito,¹ Kentaro Ito,¹ Fumiaki Watanabe,¹ Esteban C Gabazza,² Osamu Taguchi<sup>3

1</sup>Respiratory Center, Matsusaka Municipal Hospital, Tonomachi, ²Department of Immunology, ³Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan

Background: The current mainstay of therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is long-acting bronchodilators. To date, the effect of indacaterol, a β2-agonist, on activities of daily living in COPD patients is not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of indacaterol with regard to activities of daily living in patients with COPD.
Methods: In this nonrandomized open-label study, 23 patients with COPD were instructed to carry an accelerometer for 4 weeks without indacaterol therapy and then for another period of 4 weeks while receiving indacaterol therapy.
Results: The number of steps, duration of moderate or greater physical activity, and energy expenditure were significantly increased after treatment with indacaterol compared with baseline data in all patients with COPD; the metabolic equivalent of task was also significantly enhanced after treatment with indacaterol.
Conclusion: This study provides early evidence that indacaterol improves daily physical activity in patients with COPD.

Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, indacaterol, long-acting β2-agonist, physical activity