The relationship between smoking history, functional exercise capacity and airway obstruction severity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Aim and objective The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between smoking history, functional exercise capacity and airway obstruction severity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods Thirty patients with stable COPD participated in this study. Demographic value and smoking history (pack-years) were recorded. Pulmonary function tests were performed. Functional exercise capacity was evaluated with six minute walking test (6MWT). The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to examine the correlation between the variables. Results The mean of age (years), smoking history (pack-years), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 %), 6MWT distance (m) were 74.60, 47.30, 55.03, 382.70 respectively. The smoking history had significant negative correlation with FEV1 % (r=-0.374, p=0.042) and 6MWT distance (r=-0.426, p=0.019). Conclusions The study showed that smoking history had significant negative correlation with functional exercise capacity and airway obstruction severity in patients with COPD. By reducing cigarette consumption, functional exercise capacity can be increased and the severity of airway obstruction can be decreased