In a qualitative study of people with COPD, the exercise facility

was also found to be a possible barrier due to feelings of embarrassment or intimidation (Hogg Quisinostat nmr et al 2012). This is similar to a frequently mentioned reason in the general elderly population: intimidation or fear of slowing other people down during physical activities (Costello et al 2011). Some theories of behavioural change exist and may explain adherence to physical activity. According to those theories, adherence to physical activity seems to be promoted by the presence of individual needs, personal level of fitness, readiness for behavioural change, self-efficacy, and social support (Seefeldt et al 2002). In line with this, we found that individual needs, personal level of fitness and self-efficacy were related to physical activity in people with COPD. Importance of individual needs was reflected by our finding that enjoyment in physical activity is important, as was the high variability in individual preferred type of activity.

Readiness for change in behaviour was not a theme of the interview. In contrast with those theories, the influence of social support on physical activity was not clear in our population. selleck chemical Although a large group of participants report positive social support on physical activity, most of these participants do not feel that the experienced social support influences their actual physical activity level. Furthermore, we identified some disease-specific barriers to physical activity in people with COPD that are Isotretinoin not specifically present in the behavioural change theories: health, financial constraints, weather, and shame. Additionally, lack of time, a frequently reported reason to be sedentary in the general elderly population, was reported by only three participants in our sample. Consequently, lack of time appears not to be an issue in our population of people with COPD. Furthermore, tiredness or poor sleep quality and fear of movement were not reported frequently as reasons to be sedentary. This study is unique because

of the large heterogeneous population of people with COPD we studied and its combined qualitative and quantitative design. The population included 115 people with COPD in all stages of severity of the disease with a broad spectrum of clinical characteristics, and therefore allows conclusions about the full range of people with COPD. The use of qualitative research methods allowed us to gain more insight into the personal thoughts and ideas about physical activity. The use of two independent trained coders, use of an iterative coding process, and the use of standardised methods strengthen the internal validity of the findings. A limitation of the current study is that due to the relatively high number of participants, the interviews were not audiotaped and transcribed verbatim.