Accelerometer adherence and physical activity levels for adults living with post-TB lung disease in Uganda

Background: Physical activity (PA) is reduced in people with chronic respiratory disease (CRD). Despite the increasing burden of CRD in Africa, there is no available data on the PA of people living with CRD in Uganda[1]. Accordingly, the feasibility of collecting objectively measured PA in a free-living environment in individuals with CRD in Uganda is unknown.

Objective: To describe accelerometer adherence and PA among adults living with post-TB lung disease (p-TBLD) in Uganda.

Methods: In an ongoing Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) trial for adults with p-TBLD in Uganda, participants wore an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer for 1-week before participating in PR. Adherence was defined as wearing the accelerometer for ≥4 days/week and 7 days/week for ≥8 hours wear time/day. Moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) was classified as ≥1958cpm, with the proportion achieving ≥150 min/week MVPA and ≥7000 steps/day presented.

Results: Data from 25 adults with p-TBLD were analyzed (15 [60%] male, median age 42 (Interquartile range [IQR] 33-54 years). Accelerometer adherence was 100% for ≥4 valid days and 76% (n=19) for 7 valid days. Participants spent 19 (IQR 15-37) min/day in MVPA while 44% (n=11) accumulated ≥150 min/week MVPA and 24% (n=6) accumulated ≥300 min/week. Daily average step count was 5475 [IQR 4151-8261] with 32% (n=8) averaging ≥7,000 steps/day.

Conclusion: It was feasible to measure accelerometer-based PA of adults with p-TBLD in a free-living environment in Uganda. We found a high adherence to wearing accelerometers and adults with p-TBLD appeared to be more physically active compared with existing PA literature in CRD[1].

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