The ability to participate fully in one’s home and community life is an important part of health and aging but we know that restrictions in participation are common as we get older, especially for people who have chronic health problems. We looked at the effect of exercise on participation and found that only studies that lasted more than a year had a small effect on participation. We also tested a participation questionnaire called the Late Life Disability Instrument and found that it is a reliable and valid way to measure participation in people with COPD. 

Take home message: In general, exercise does not improve participation in life roles in older adults. We need to study other types of treatment to figure out how to impact this important part of health. The Late Life Disability Instrument can be used to assess participation in people with COPD. 

Publications

Exercise to Improve Participation

A Tool to Assess Participation in People With COPD