Walking Football for People With Chronic Breathlessness
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of a walking football intervention for people with chronic breathlessness. Chronic breathlessness refers to breathlessness that persists despite optimal treatment of the underlying pathophysiology. Roughly 9-13% of the general population will experience chronic breathlessness, with incidence rising with age to 37% for those aged over 60years.
This mixed-methods study will offer patients who have enrolled on to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) the prospect to partake in walking football once they have completed their scheduled programmes (or voluntarily dropped-out); introducing a potential opportunity for long-term exercise maintenance post PR. Participants will be recruited from North Tees & Hartlepool Foundation Trust, and South Tees Foundation Trust.
PR is recommended for all people with chronic breathlessness and has been shown to improve exercise capacity and health-related quality of life. However, PR programmes typically only last for 6-12 weeks, and have little to no impact on long-term physical activity levels. Walking Football has been identified as a potential form of exercise which people with breathlessness could maintain post-PR, thus offering a solution to PRs limited ability to promote exercise maintenance.
Participants will be invited to play walking football for 6-weeks (2-hours weekly) in the Middlesbrough/Stockton area. Before and after weeks 1 and 6, breathlessness-relevant outcomes will be measured including; exercise capacity, lower-limb strength, perceived breathlessness, quality of life, balance confidence, depression, and anxiety.
During a participant's third session, one-time physical intensity outcomes will be calculated during play including heart-rate and perceived intensity. Participants will also be invited to an interview to discuss how feasible they have found the football, any benefits they may have experienced, and how the football programme could be improved.
The study will officially end with a co-production workshop; a focus group with stakeholders (players, physiotherapists, co-ordinators, researchers) after preliminary analysis has been conducted to discuss initial findings.
Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
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N/A |
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
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Experimental: Walking Football Walking football intervention for 6-weeks (2-hour per week) at a local sports hall, supervised by a walking football coach with assistance from CB. |
Other: Walking Football
Walking Football (Soccer): Typical football rules apply but without running.
Participants will play at a local sports hall for 6-weeks, (2-hour per week). Time will be split into 10-mins warm-up and 50-mins of play. The 50-mins will be organised into training drills and small sided games.
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Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Six-Minute Walk Test [6-Weeks]
Exercise test used to assess aerobic capacity and endurance. The distance covered over a time of 6 minutes is used as the outcome by which to compare changes in performance capacity.
- Sit to Stand Test [6-Weeks]
Method of assessing an individual's leg strength and endurance by having them stand up from a sitting position repeatedly over the course of 30 seconds.
- EQ-5D-5L [6-Weeks]
Health Related Quality of Life
- Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale [6-Weeks]
Breathlessness Scale
- Activities Specific Balance Confidence Scale [6-Weeks]
Balance Confidence Scale
- Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [6-Weeks]
Depression Questionnaire
- Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 [6-Weeks]
Anxiety Questionnaire
- COPD Assessment Test (CAT) [6-Weeks]
Framework for quantifying symptom burden and risk for exacerbation
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
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Confirmed diagnosis of chronic breathlessness via a chronic respiratory condition (through referral to PR)
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Example conditions include; COPD, severe asthma, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Lung Disease (This does not include Long Covid as many patients often make a full recovery over time).
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Be 18 years or over at the point of recruitment
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Scheduled PR programme ends within the recruitment window
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Be able to communicate with good verbal English or use adaptive equipment to communicate
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Respiratory condition is stable (e.g. six weeks clear of exacerbation in COPD)
Exclusion Criteria:
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Unstable Angina
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Other conditions that may affect balance (e.g. neurological)
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Recent exacerbation of COPD (within the last six weeks)
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Unable to provide written informed consent
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Unable to speak English or no translation options available
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Any other acute health conditions that would make activity unsafe e.g. acute infection
Contacts and Locations
Locations
No locations specified.Sponsors and Collaborators
- Teesside University
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Samantha Harrison, Teesside University
Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
None provided.- 10814