Physical Activity and Respiratory Muscle Strength in Patients with Sarcoidosis: An Observational Study

BACKGROUND: The literature results related to the physical assessment in patients with sarcoidosis are contradictory and limited. The objective of this study was to compare the physical activity and respiratory muscle strength of patients at different stages of sarcoidosis. METHODS: Since 2003, we monitored 386 patients with ILDs, from which 107 patients were with sarcoidosis. Of the 107 patients with sarcoidosis, 57 were included in this study. A matched control group of 50 healthy patients were also included in the study. Kings Sarcoidosis Questionnaire (KSQ), maximal inspiratory/expiratory pressure and 6-minute walking test were recorded. RESULTS: We observed significant differences between the exercise capacity of the four sarcoidosis stages, 561.00 (531.00–586.00) vs 557.00 (510.00–599.00) vs 469.00 (430.00–515.00) vs 457.00 (397.00–496.00), independent-samples Kruskal–Wallis H-test H (4107) = 34.757, p < 0.001. Also, we observed significant differences between the exercise capacity of patients with sarcoidosis and healthy controls, 496.00 (437.00–550.00) vs 561.00 (531.00–586.00), Mann–Whitney U-test, p < 0.001. In addition, we observed that patients with sarcoidosis had significantly lower MIP and MEP than healthy controls, 84.00 (79.00–91.00) vs 90.00 (83.00–97.00); p = 0.001, and 85.00 (79.00–89.00) vs 89.00 (85.00–92.00), p < 0.001, respectively. There were significant associations between exercise capacity and KSQ scores, eg, general health (r = 0.206, p = 0.027), lung health (r = 0.280, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Patients with different stages of sarcoidosis showed reduced quality of life, exercise capacity and respiratory muscle strength both among themselves and compared to healthy controls.