Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study sample (n = 63) compared with patients only assessed at baseline (n = 26)

Sex, male/female n (%)

18/8 (69/31)

35/28 (56/44)

0.232

Age (years)

64.4 ± 5.8

61.2 ± 6.2

0.028

Smoking status n (%)

0.471

  Current

9 (35)

27 (43)

  Former

17 (65)

36 (57)

Pack years

38 ± 19

43 ± 26

0.380

Height (m)

1.72 ± 0.1

1.71 ± 0.1

0.540

Weight (kg)

72.8 ± 20.7

76.4 ± 17.5

0.406

BMI (mean, kg · m⁻²)

24.4 ± 5.4

26.3 ± 4.9

0.108

FEV₁ (% pred.)

38.2 ± 11.4

51.4 ± 13.5

<0.001

FVC (% pred.)

83.5 ± 20.6

90.1 ± 17.2

0.120

FEV₁/FVC (%)

36.4 ± 7.6

46.4 ± 10.8

<0.001

IC_rest (L)

1.91 ± 0.50

2.36 ± 0.75

0.006

ΔIC(L)

0.30 ± 0.28

0.41 ± 0.40

0.232

GOLD category

0.001

  II n (%)

5 (19)

34 (54)

  III n (%)

14 (54)

26 (41)

  IV n (%)

7 (27)

3 (5)

mMRC dyspnea grade

1.6 ± 0.9

1.3 ± 1.2

0.316

Experienced¹ ≥ 2 exacerbations last year

0.402

  No n (%)

18 (69)

49 (78)

  Yes n (%)

8 (31)

14 (22)

Exercise time (min)

4.78 ± 1.66

6.44 ± 1.88

<0.001

V̇O_2peak (L ∙ min⁻¹)

1.09 ± 0.31

1.57 ± 0.57

<0.001

V̇CO_2peak (L ∙ min⁻¹)

1.08 ± 0.38

1.65 ± 0.69

<0.001

V̇_Epeak (L ∙ min⁻¹)

40.2 ± 13.3

53.8 ± 19.2

<0.001

HR_peak (bpm)

125 ± 21

138 ± 20

0.009

RER

0.98 ± 0.12

1.03 ± 0.12

0.047

Dyspnea (Borg Scale)

8.6 ± 1.7

9.0 ± 1.6

0.481

Leg discomfort (Borg Scale)

5.5 ± 3.4

5.6 ± 2.8

0.905

SpO₂ start (%)

96.8 ± 3.4

97.1 ± 2.2

0.546

SpO₂ end (%)

89.9 ± 6.3

92.8 ± 5.0

0.024