Karin Wadell

• Doctor of Physical Therapy
• Professor (Full) at Umeå University

Choosing the appropriate design process is critical for the effective implementation and long-term sustainment of interventions aimed at addressing public health challenges. To address this need, we proposed a Transition Design model to identify and deliver sustainable solutions for complex healthcare problems. This model generates system-level h...

Background: There is increasing interest in the use of home-based monitoring in people with chronic lung diseases to improve access to care, support patient self-management, and facilitate the collection of information for clinical care and research. However, integration of home-based monitoring into clinical and research settings requires careful...

We aimed to evaluate short-term effects of a web-based self-management support on objectively measured physical activity (PA) compared to usual care in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We conducted a pragmatic randomised controlled trial including people with stable COPD within primary healthcare. Participants were randomis...

Background: Patients with chronic respiratory failure treated with long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) often have severe breathlessness, impaired exercise performance, and high but variable mortality that is difficult to predict. We aimed to evaluate breathlessness and exercise performance upon starting LTOT as predictors of overall and short-term mor...

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common and deadliest chronic diseases of the 21st century. eHealth tools are seen as a promising way of supporting health care professionals in providing evidence-based COPD care, for example, by reinforcing information and interventions provided to the patients and providi...

Background: Incorporating co-creation processes may improve the quality of outcome interventions. However, there is a lack of synthesis of co-creation practices in the development of Non-Pharmacological Interventions (NPIs) for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), that could inform future co-creation practice and research for...

Background: Despite well-known positive effects of pulmonary rehabilitation, access is limited. New strategies to improve access are advocated, including the use of eHealth tools. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore prospective users' preferences for an eHealth tool to support the self-management of physical activity and exercise tr...

BACKGROUND Although electronic health (eHealth) tools are seen as a promising way of delivering health services in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management, knowledge is scarce on the experience of using eHealth tools from the perspective of the healthcare professionals involved in COPD management in daily clinical praxis. OBJECTIVE...

This article presents updated data regarding exercise training among persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Persons with stable COPD and IPF can improve quality of life, physical capacity and dyspnea after a period of exercise training. Persons with COPD exacerbation can improve quality of...

Background: Among people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), low level of daily physical activity (PA) is the main risk factors for developing cardiovascular, metabolic, and musculoskeletal comorbidities. Increasing PA in people with COPD is complex as PA behavior itself is complex and multifaceted, including personal, physiological...

BACKGROUND Among people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), low levels of daily physical activity (PA) are the main risk factors for developing cardiovascular, metabolic, and musculoskeletal comorbidities. Increasing PA in people with COPD is as complex as PA behavior is complex and multi-faceted, including personal, physiological, a...

Background: Lack of routines and competence among healthcare professionals have been reported as barriers to COPD management in long-term care. Online education could be used as a strategy to make COPD education more accessible. Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate a digital COPD education program for healthcare professionals in long-term...

Background Using participatory methods to engage end-users in the development and design of eHealth is important to understand and incorporate their needs and context. Within participatory research, recent social distancing practice has forced a transition to digital communication platforms, a setting that warrants deeper understanding. The aim of...

SAMMANFATTNING Covid-19, den sjukdom som orsakas av SARSCoV- 2-infektion, ger ofta milda symtom men kan ibland leda till allvarlig sjukdom. Infektionen kan påverka flera organsystem i kroppen vilket kan leda till olika fysiska, kognitiva och psykologiska funktionsneds ttningar. Långvariga symtom av varierande svårighetsgrad, kallat postcovid, kan d...

Background The use of information technology can make pulmonary rehabilitation interventions in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) more flexible and thereby has the potential to reach a larger proportion of the population. However, the success of using information technology in pulmonary rehabilitation is dependent on the end-...

Technology developments and demand for flexibility in health care and in contact with the health care system are two factors leading to increased use of eHealth solutions. The use of eHealth has been shown to have positive effects in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but the full potential for this group needs to be explored. There...

BACKGROUND Self-management strategies are regarded as highly prioritized in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment guidelines. However, individual and structural barriers lead to a staggering amount of people with COPD that are not offered support for such strategies, and new approaches are urgently needed to circumvent these barrie...

Background Self-management strategies are regarded as highly prioritized in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment guidelines. However, individual and structural barriers lead to a staggering amount of people with COPD that are not offered support for such strategies, and new approaches are urgently needed to circumvent these barrie...

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common and deadliest chronic diseases worldwide. Since COPD is a chronic and progressive disease, treatment is necessary throughout life. For people with COPD who cannot live independently, long-term care facilities are often required. However, knowledge is very limited abou...

Meaningful and high-quality interactions between people with COPD and healthcare professionals are essential to accomplish effective and efficient self-management. This study’s aim was to explore how people with COPD experience COPD-related interactions with healthcare professionals in primary care, and how these interactions influence their self-m...

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health problem and an economic burden globally. There is growing interest in how electronic health (eHealth) can be used to provide efficient health care. Telemonitoring, where the patient’s health-related data is transmitted to a health care provider, can be used to detect early s...

Background: Many telehealth systems have been designed to identify signs of exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but few previous studies have reported the nature of recorded lung function data and what variations to expect in this group of individuals. The aim of the study was to evaluate the nature of indi...

Introduction The use of adequate self-management strategies for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may increase the level of physical activity (PA), improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and reduce healthcare use. Whether web-based support in addition to prompts (email and SMS) could be used to promote self-management...

BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health problem and an economic burden globally. There is growing interest in how electronic health (eHealth) can be used to provide efficient health care. Telemonitoring, where the patient’s health-related data is transmitted to a health care provider, can be used to detect early si...

Objective: Evaluate the feasibility of the COPD Web and its study design and study procedures and to increase the understanding of the potential effect of the tool in order to provide guidance for a future large scale trial. Design: Parallel-group controlled pragmatic pilot trial. Subjects: There was a total of 83 patients with COPD (mean age 70 ±...

Background Physical activity reduces the risk of acquired cardiovascular disease, which is of great importance in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). There are diverging data whether physical activity level (PAL) differs between patients with CHD and controls. Furthermore, it is unknown if PAL can be reliably assessed in patients with CHD...

Background: New strategies are urgently needed to support self-management for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in primary care. The use of electronic health (eHealth) solutions is promising. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how such eHealth tools should be designed in order to be perceived as relevant and useful a...

BACKGROUND New strategies are urgently needed to support self-management for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in primary care. The use of electronic health (eHealth) solutions is promising. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how such eHealth tools should be designed in order to be perceived as relevant and useful an...

Background: Physical activity improves health, exercise tolerance and quality of life in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD), and exercise training is in most patients a high-benefit low risk intervention. However, factors that influence the confidence to perform exercise training, i.e. exercise self-efficacy (ESE), in CHD patients are virt...

Objective: The beneficial effects of exercise training in acquired heart failure and coronary artery disease are well known and have been implemented in current treatment guidelines. Knowledge on appropriate exercise training regimes for adults with congenital heart disease is limited, thus further studies are needed. The aim of this study was to...

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a public health problem. Interprofessional collaboration and health promotion interventions such as exercise training, education, and behaviour change are cost effective, have a good effect on health status, and are recommended in COPD treatment guidelines. There is a gap between the guidel...

Introduction The use of adequate self-management strategies for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) reduces healthcare use, improves health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and recovery after acute exacerbations. However, not many people with COPD receive support that promotes the use of such strategies and therefore new methods...

Persons with COPD should be recommended training Persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should be recommended aerobic and resistance training to be able to improve quality of life and physical capacity, and to decrease dyspnoea, anxiety and depression (moderately strong scientific evidence - quality of evidence grade 3). Subjects...

Persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should be recommended aerobic and resistance training to be able to improve quality of life and physical capacity, and to decrease dyspnoea, anxiety and depression (moderately strong scientific evidence - quality of evidence grade 3). Subjects with an exacerbation should be recommended train...

Background Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an important, evidence-based component for the management of individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In daily practice, the majority of COPD patients are treated in primary care. However, information about the availability of PR in primary care in Sweden is lacking. The aim was to i...

The aims of this review were to determine the level of evidence for exercise training in the management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and provide evidence-based recommendations on exercise training. This review was performed in PubMed and Cochrane Library. Included studies investigated patients with COPD who had been...

Purpose: To examine the correlation between limb muscle function (endurance and strength) and functional capacity in upper limbs (ULs) and lower limbs (LLs) of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Method: This article describes a secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial. A stationary dynamometer was used...

Positive expiratory pressure (PEP) and CPAP are used to enhance breathing parameters such as functional residual capacity (FRC) in patients. Studies comparing effects of PEP and CPAP on FRC are few and variable. One reason for this may be that sophisticated equipment, not suitable in the clinical setting, is required. Because total lung capacity (T...

Introduction: Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is used in air ambulances to treat patients with impaired oxygenation. Differences in mechanical principles between CPAP devices may affect their performance at different ambient air pressures, as will occur in an air ambulance during flight. Methods: Two different CPAP systems, a threshol...

Only a minority of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have access to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Home-based solutions such as telehealthcare, have been used in efforts to make PR more available. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of telehealthcare on physical activity level, physical capacity...

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe thoughts and attitudes of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) when talking about exercise training as treatment. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were performed and analyzed with the grounded theory method. Four men and six women were interviewed (ages 66-84 years), with...

Background: Most adult patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) have reduced aerobic exercise capacity. Their habitual physical activity (PA) level is, however, less well studied. In this study, habitual PA level in a cohort of adults with CHD compared with healthy age- and sex-matched controls was investigated. Methods: Eighty adults with C...

Background: Adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) usually have reduced aerobic exercise capacity compared with controls. However, their skeletal muscle function is less studied. Material and methods: In this cross-sectional study, unilateral isotonic shoulder flexion, unilateral isotonic heel-lift, maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) and ma...

Elastic resistance as a tool for evaluation of muscular strength has rarely been addressed even though it is commonly used in exercise and rehabilitation regimens involving the shoulder muscles. The aim was therefore to investigate the relationship and potential difference between development of force during maximal isokinetic (maximum peak force,...

Background High-repetitive resistance training is recommended to increase peripheral muscular endurance in healthy adults, however the effects of resistance training with this design on exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is unknown.Objective Investigate if low l...

Dyspnoea, fatigue, reduced exercise tolerance, peripheral muscle dysfunction and mood disorders are common features of many chronic respiratory disorders. Pulmonary rehabilitation successfully treats these manifestations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emerging evidence suggests that these benefits could be extended to other chr...

Purpose: To determine (1) the relationship among three common upper-limb tests for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): unsupported upper limb exercise test (UULEX), 6-minute pegboard and ring test (6PBRT), and a muscle-strength test using a hand-held dynamometer; and (2) the responsiveness of these three tests to changes af...

The prognosis in adults with congenital aortic valve disease is usually favourable; nevertheless, a number of medical and social factors might hamper long-term prognosis and quality of life. With a focus on physical exercise level, data from the Swedish National Registry on Congenital Heart Disease (SWEDCON) were analysed and variables associated w...

Purpose: Many adults with congenital heart disease have reduced exercise capacity but only little is known about habitual physical activity in this group. The aim of this study was to investigate habitual physical activity level in a cohort of adults with congenital heart disease. Methods: Seventy-five adult patients (29 females) aged 37.2±15.1 yea...

Purpose: Complex congenital heart disease is often associated with impaired physical functioning, usually measured as peak oxygen uptake in an exercise test. Skeletal muscle function is, however, less studied in these patients. Methods: Unilateral isotonic shoulder flexion was tested in 79 adult patients (mean age 36.6±14.8 years, 31 females) with...

Background: Although single-limb exercise (SLE) has been used for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), the evidence for SLE has not been evaluated systematically and remains unclear. Objectives: Determine the evidence for the effect of SLE compared to any comparator on outcome...

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an evidence-based, multidisciplinary and cost-effective intervention that leads to improved health in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD. However, the availability of PR programs varies between and within different countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the availability and conten...

Abstract The evaluation of dyspnea and its responsiveness to therapy in COPD should consider the multidimensional nature of this symptom in each of its sensory-perceptual (intensity, quality), affective and impact domains. To gain new insights into mechanisms of dyspnea relief following pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), we examined effects on the majo...

Single-limb knee extension exercises have been found to be effective at improving lower extremity exercise capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Since the positive local physiological effects of exercise training only occur in the engaged muscle(s), should upper extremity muscles also be included to determine the e...

Placement of participants during each exercise.

High-repetitive single limb exercise (HRSLE) program.Received by both physiotherapists leading training intervention (during education) and participants (at first training session) [62627].

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) primarily describe their exertional dyspnea using descriptors alluding to increased effort or work of breathing and unsatisfied inspiration or inspiratory difficulty. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of changes in dynamic respiratory mechanics during incremental (INCR) an...

The presence of obesity in COPD appears not to be a disadvantage with respect to dyspnea and weight-supported cycle exercise performance. We hypothesized that one explanation for this might be that the volume-reducing effects of obesity convey mechanical and respiratory muscle function advantages. Twelve obese chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of upper extremity resistance training for patients with COPD on dyspnea during activity of daily living (ADL), arm function, arm exercise capacity, muscle strength, and health-related quality of life (HRQL). Patients were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group underwent...

To compare the 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) test performed on a non-motorised treadmill (6MWD-T) with the 6MWD test performed in a corridor (6MWD-C) in healthy elderly subjects. Sixteen healthy elderly individuals. Participants performed three 6MWD-T tests and three 6MWD-C tests on two different days. Distance walked was recorded in metres. Percei...