Walking activity measured by accelerometry during respiratory rehabilitation.

Purpose: Activity monitoring is considered a highly relevant outcome measure of respiratory rehabilitation. This study aimed to assess the usefulness of a new accelerometric method for characterization of walking activity during a 3-week inpatient rehabilitation program.

Methods: After individual calibration of the accelerometer at different walking speeds, whole-day physical activity was recorded for 15 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on the first and the last days of the program, and for 10 healthy subjects.

Changing patterns in long-term noninvasive ventilation: a 7-year prospective study in the Geneva Lake area.

Study Objectives: To describe a 7-year follow-up (1992 to 2000) of patients who were treated by home nasal positive-pressure ventilation (NPPV) for chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure.

Design: Prospective descriptive study.

Setting: Two university hospitals and a pulmonary rehabilitation center.