INTRODUCTION Physical inactivity is common in patients after lung transplantation (LTx) and has been associated with comorbidities. We investigated the relationship between physical activity (PA) and the presence of comorbidities in LTx recipients.

METHODS PA was measured with a Dynaport Movemonitor for one week. PA was categorized into classes: <2500, 2500-5000, 5000-7500 and >7500 steps/day. The prevalence of the following comorbidities was compared between the PA classes with Chi² and a post hoc Tukey correction: lower extremity artery disease, arterial hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, obesity and depression (definitions in fig 1).

RESULTS Figure 1 shows the prevalence of comorbidities across the PA classes of 108 LTx recipients (mean±SEM 60±1 year; 51% male; FEV1 94±2% pred; DLCO 54±1% pred; 20±1 months since LTx; PA 5250±273 steps/day), with DLCO lower in the least active group (p<0.05). The prevalence of muscle weakness was different between classes (Chi², p = 0.016), with muscle weakness less observed in the most active group compared to the inactive group (post hoc Tukey, p=0.007). Arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia were present in more than 80% of the patients, regardless the PA level.

CONCLUSIONS LTx recipients have many comorbidities. Only muscle weakness was significantly related to low PA. An ongoing RCT will investigate whether changing PA affects the incidence of comorbidities.

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