TY - JOUR T1 - IMPACT OF BRONCHODILATOR RESPONSIVENESS ON QUALITY OF LIFE AND EXERCISE CAPACITY IN PATIENTS WITH COPD JF - Respiratory Care DO - 10.4187/respcare.02399 SP - respcare.02399 AU - Francisco Ortega AU - Eduardo Márquez-Martín AU - Borja Valencia AU - Pilar Cejudo AU - Ana Rodriguez AU - Jose Luis López-Camposa AU - Emilia Barrot Y1 - 2013/06/04 UR - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/06/04/respcare.02399.abstract N2 - Background: Bronchial variability in COPD patients may be a phenotypic feature associated with clinical characteristics and differential treatment response. Objectives: We analysed whether symptoms, quality of life and exercise capacity varied in COPD patients as a function of bronchodilator test results. Further, we compared response to an exercise programme in the groups. Methods: A positive bronchodilator test result was defined as FVC and/or FEV1>12% plus >200 ml improvement after 400 μg salbutamol. We studied 198 COPD patients, 94 with positive reversibility and 104 with negative reversibility. Training sessions were carried out on three non-consecutive days each week for 12 weeks, and consisted of a combination of resistance and strength training. Subjects were evaluated on two consecutive days at baseline, and at the end of the 12-week training programme. Results: Those with positive reversibility had shorter time—to-exhaustion on the endurance test (19.1±12.6 min versus 24.5±14.5 min in negative reversibility patients; p<0.031), shorter distances in the shuttle walking test (380.6 ± 158.2 m versus 438.5±149.1 m in negative reversibility patients; p<0.029) and lower scores on the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire (18.7±4.6 versus 19.8±4.3 in negative reversibility patients; p<0.015), while we found no significant differences in peak exercise, peripheral muscle strength or dyspnoea. Further, differences between groups in improvements after exercise training were not significant. Conclusions: Compared to COPD patients with negative reversibility, those with positive reversibility walk for shorter distances, and have shorter endurance times and a worse quality of life, but improvements after exercise training are similar. ER -