# Relationships that perceived barriers to physical activity have with functional capacity and quality of life in patients with pulmonary hypertension

## TL;DR

This study explores how perceived barriers to physical activity relate to health outcomes in patients with pulmonary hypertension.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific barriers to physical activity and their correlations with quality of life and functional capacity in pulmonary hypertension patients.

## Key findings

- The most common barrier reported was 'lack of will/energy', which correlated with most SF-36 domains.
- The vitality domain of SF-36 was significantly linked to multiple barriers like 'lack of energy' and 'lack of will'.
- Functional capacity was correlated with the 'lack of will' barrier, but no echocardiographic correlations were found.

## Abstract

Barriers to physical activity can affect the functional capacity and quality of life of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). This study aimed to identify the main barriers to physical activity in patients with PH and to examine whether those barriers are related to functional capacity, echocardiographic variables, or quality of life.

This was a cross-sectional observational study involving 70 patients. Participants scored seven potential barriers to their activities, with a score ≥ 5 indicating a significant barrier. Participants completed the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Manchester Respiratory Activity of Daily Living questionnaire, as well as the six-minute walk test. Correlation analysis, univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression were performed.

As a perceived barrier to physical activity, ‘lack of will’ or ‘lack of energy’ was cited by 67% of the patients. The ‘lack of will’ barrier was found to correlate with all SF-36 domains except bodily pain. We also identified a correlation between the SF-36 vitality domain and the barriers ‘lack of energy’, ‘lack of will’ and ‘lack of structure’. The logistic regression analysis indicated that the vitality domain correlated significantly with the barriers ‘social influence’, ‘lack of energy’, ‘lack of will’, and ‘lack of structure’. For each unit decrease in the vitality score, there was a 10% increase in the probability of citing the barrier ‘lack of will’. No significant correlations were identified between any of the perceived barriers and echocardiographic parameters.

The perceived barrier most commonly reported was ‘lack of will/energy’, which correlated with almost all SF-36 domains, especially vitality. The ‘lack of will’ barrier also correlated with functional capacity.