Physical inactivity may be a consequence of chronic diseases but also a potential modifiable risk factor. Therefore, it should be clinically assessed as a vital sign of patients' general physical condition prior to any exercise-based intervention. This cross-sectional study describes physical activity in the daily life of 100 chronic respiratory patients before pulmonary rehabilitation, comparing subjective and objective measures. The assessment combined the International Physical Activity

more »

... ionnaire (IPAQ) and 4-day accelerometer and oximeter telemonitoring with SMARTREAB technology, assessing heart rate, transcutaneous oxygen saturation and activity-related energy expenditure by metabolic equivalent of task (MET). According to IPAQ, 49% of patients had a moderate level of physical activity in daily life (PADL), a weekly mean level of 2844 ± 2925 MET.min/week, and a mean sedentary time of 5.8 ± 2.7 h/day. Alongside this, SMARTREAB telemonitoring assessed maximum activity ranging from 1.51 to 4.64 METs, with 99.6% daytime spent on PADL below 3 METs and 93% of patients with daily desaturation episodes. Regardless of the self-reported IPAQ, patients spend at least 70% of daytime on PADL below 2 METs. SMARTREAB was demonstrated to be an innovative methodology to measure PADL as a vital sign, combining oximetry with accelerometry, crossmatched with qualitative patient data, providing important input for designing patient-tailored pulmonary rehabilitation.