INTRODUCTION: COPD is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. The BODE is an important predictive index of mortality and its scores can be reduced with the practice of physical activity. OBJECTIVE: To verify the association between BODE and physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: the BODE index was calculated using the following variables: distance in the 6-minute walk test (6MWT); Medical Research Council Dyspnea Score (MRC); body mass index (BMI) and degree of pulmonary function (FEV1). The patients were divided in groups classified as physically active (PA) or physically inactive (PI). Qui-square test was used to verify the independence of the variables. T-Student test was used to compare the 6WMT, MRC, BMI, FEV1 variables between PA and PI groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In 38 patients with moderate and serious obstruction to the air flow (36.5 ± 11.9), BODE mean value was of 4.1/ ±/ 2.1 for the PA group, while for the PI group BODE mean value was of ± 2.2. Significant difference in the comparison of WD6', MRC, BODE variables between groups was observed. There was more occurrence of individuals who practice physical activity in quartiles one and two, while individuals who do not practice aerobic physical activity were in quartiles three and four. Higher scores of BODE for DPOC patients considered physically inactive supports the general concept that inactivity increases risk of death.
obstructive disease; exercise; spirometry
