Abstract:
Background: Older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibit reduced
lower limb muscle strength and reduced functional capacity compared to their healthy
counterparts. There is limited evidence in Sri Lanka on whether functional capacity and lower
limb strength can distinguish fallers from non-fallers and identifying these links is important to
make targeted rehabilitation and fall prevention interventions.
Objective: To identify whether impairments in functional capacity and lower limb muscle strength
can distinguish fallers from non-fallers among a selected group of patients with COPD
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Central Chest Clinic Colombo, and National
Hospital for Respiratory Diseases Welisara from August to September 2024, involving COPD
patients aged 60 and older according to the consecutive sampling technique. Lower limb muscle
strength was assessed using the Five times Sit-To-Stand test (5STS), while functional capacity was
evaluated with a Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT).
Results: A total of 229 individuals with COPD (177 males) with a mean±SD age of 70±6.8 years
were recruited. Of them, 24.9% reported at least one fall in the previous 12 months and 69.9%
were ex-smokers. Mean±SD 5STS and 6MWD scores were 20.8±6.4 seconds and 353.9±92.2
meters, respectively. Females took significantly longer time to complete 5STS test (21.6±5.6
seconds) compared to males (20.6±5.6 seconds) (p=0.001), whereas males demonstrated a higher
mean±SD 6MWD (369.8±96.7 meters) than females (343.8±72.3 meters) (p=0.004). Fallers
(24.8±7.6 seconds) required significantly more time to complete the 5STS test than non-fallers
(19.5±5.4 seconds) (p=0.001), whereas non-fallers (388.0±85.0 meters) covered a significantly
longer distance during the 6-minute walk test compared to fallers (291.0±73.2 meters) (p=0.001).
Conclusions: In the selected group of patients with COPD, there were significant impairments
identified in muscle strength and functional capacity among fallers compared to non-fallers.
