Patient-Centered Physical Activity Coaching in COPD: A Pragmatic Trial
Phase: NA
Conditions: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Sponsor: Kaiser Permanente

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PATIENT-CENTERED 
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 
COACHING IN COPD:  
A PRAGMATIC TRIAL  
 
Study Protocol 
Updated December 2018 
 
 
 
 

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Table of Contents 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 3 
BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................... 5 
SPECIFIC AIMS ............................................................................................................................................... 5 
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS ..................................................................................................................... 6 
Study Setting ................................................................................................................................................. 6 
Overview of Design ....................................................................................................................................... 6 
Identifying Eligible Patients from the EMR ................................................................................................... 8 
Randomization ............................................................................................................................................ 10 
Consent and Passive Monitoring ................................................................................................................ 11 
Standard Care (SC) Control ......................................................................................................................... 11 
Rationale for Standard Care as a Comparator ............................................................................................ 11 
Study Procedures ........................................................................................................................................ 11 
Walk On! Physical Activity Coaching Intervention ...................................................................................... 12 
Measures and Outcomes ............................................................................................................................ 21 
Analytical Plan ............................................................................................................................................. 24 
Sample Size Estimates ................................................................................................................................. 26 
Safety Monitoring ....................................................................................................................................... 27 
Project Milestones and Timeline ................................................................................................................ 27 
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
 
BACKGROUND  
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of the death in the US.  The 
personal, social and economic costs of the disease are tremendous, with annual expenditures of nearly 
$50 billion, mostly from hospitalizations for exacerbations of COPD. For the vast majority of patients, 
despite optimal pharmacological therapy, living with COPD is characterized by unrelieved dyspnea, 
physical inactivity, deconditioning, and an insidious downward spiral of social isolation and depression. 
There is mounting epidemiological evidence that physical inactivity is associated with more frequent 
hospitalizations and increased mortality in COPD even after adjusting for disease severity. The evidence 
is unequivocal that intensive supervised exercise training as part of pulmonary rehabilitation improves 
outcomes of importance to patients. However, patient participation in supervised exercise at center-
based rehabilitation programs is very low (1-3% of eligible patients) which undermines the wide scale 
adoption of this approach in real world clinical settings for large numbers of patients. A paradigm shift is 
needed in the non-pharmacological care of COPD from traditional rehabilitation to a more patient-
centered, scalable, and sustainable model of promoting active lifestyles to improve outcomes for COPD 
and its common co-morbidities.  Identifying alternative, more flexible models that honors patients’ 
preferences and needs is of intense interest to patients and their caregivers. 
 
OBJECTIVES 
We propose a pragmatic randomized controlled trial in a large integrated health care system to 
determine the effectiveness of a 12-month patient-centered, physical activity coaching intervention 
(Walk On!) for patients with COPD on the primary composite outcome of all-cause hospitalizations, 
emergency department (ED) visits, observation stays and death compared to standard care.  We will 
also examine the secondary outcomes of physical activity, symptom burden, quality of life, COPD-related 
health care utilization, and cardio-metabolic markers. The long-term objective is to scale-up and spread 
the implementation of this model into existing care management efforts across Kaiser Permanente and 
other health care systems should the findings be positive. 
 
METHODS 
A randomized controlled design was used to test the effectiveness of Walk On! compared to standard 
care (SC) in patients with a history of COPD-related hospitalization, ED or observation visits in the 
previous 12 months.  Eligible patients (n=1650; revised to 2707) were automatically identified from our 
electronic medical records (EMR) system and randomized to either the Walk On! program or SC from 
July 2015-July 2017.  SC patients continue to have access to all the health services they would receive 
such as a readmission reduction bundle, pulmonary rehabilitation, and health education programs. Walk 
On! patients will receive SC plus the individually tailored Walk On! program over 12 months which 
includes four components: baseline orientation/functional assessment, intensive coaching, and pro-
active professional and peer support and monitoring via semi-automated outreach by telephone or 
Internet as well as group visits. Outcomes will be analyzed using conventional statistical methods for 
binary and continuous variables and according to intention to treat principles.  We will also examine 
heterogeneity of effects in patient subgroups. 
 
PATIENT OUTCOMES 
Our primary composite outcome will be all-cause hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, 
observation stays and death in the 12 months following enrollment in Walk On!  Secondary outcomes 
include physical activity, COPD-related health care utilization, and cardio-metabolic markers such as 

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BMI, blood pressure, HbA1c, and lipids, all of which will be automatically captured from our EMR 
system; we will also measure patients’ symptom burden, quality of life, perception of support, and 
satisfaction using mail, phone or web surveys.  These outcomes were selected based on patients’ 
expressed desires to remain independent for as long as possible in the face of a progressive illness.   
 
PATIENT AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 
The research team has engaged all relevant stakeholders including patients, family members, front line 
clinicians, administrators, and executive health system leadership from the proposal development stage 
to the planning/start-up, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination activities.  A Patient and Family 
Advisory Board (PAB) met via telephone conference once a month to discuss study progress and 
partnered with the research team to address any study-related issues and challenges as they unfolded. 
In addition to the monthly calls, the PAB and health system partners met in person in Year 1 to inform 
the final study protocol, in Year 2 to refine the study processes and implementation, in Year 3 to 
celebrate the end of recruitment and plan for possible dissemination activities, and in Year 4 to review 
the study findings and strategize on next steps.   
 
ANTICIPATED IMPACT 
A pragmatic trial of physical activity coaching in high risk COPD patients is unprecedented. If successful, 
findings from this study could re-define the standard of care for patients with COPD to more aggressive 
management of physical inactivity in community and home-based settings in contrast to the current 
highly inaccessible gold standard center-based pulmonary rehabilitation programs.  The Walk On! 
program could potentially provide patients and their families an effective alternative care model that 
meets their preferences and needs and payers will be able to invest in a more scalable intervention with 
more durable effects.  Generating rigorous evidence regarding the impact of patient-centered 
behavioral interventions for individuals with multiple chronic conditions significantly advances PCORI’s 
mission of assisting diverse stakeholders in making more informed decisions that reflect their desired 
health outcomes. 
 
PARTICIPATING KAISER PERMANENTE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MEDICAL CENTERS 
Downey, LAMC, Orange County, Riverside, Fontana, and San Diego (South Bay and West Los Angeles 
added in 2017) 
 
CORE INVESTIGATORS 
Huong Nguyen, PhD, RN (PI); Michael Gould, MD, MS; Karen Coleman, PhD; Smita Desai, DO; William 
Towner, MD; Anny Xiang, PhD; Marilyn Moy, MD, MS 
 
PATIENT and FAMILY ADVISORY BOARD 
Ms. Adrienne Bailey (deceased), Mr. Kenneth Desjardins (deceased), Ms. Leslie Paskus, Ms. Freida 
Miller, Ms. Reta Coulombe, Ms. Gloria Miller, Mr. Ronald Fox (deceased), Ms. Susan Barlett, and Ms. 
Bonnie Tomeoni 
 
DATA SAFETY MONITORING BOARD MEMBERS 
Kevin Cain, PhD, David Au, MD, MPH, Barbara Sternfeld, PhD 
 
REGULATORY 
KPSC Institutional Review Board Protocol: #10697 
clinicaltrials.gov registration: #NCT02478359 
 

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BACKGROUND 
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of the death in the US.1  
The personal, social and economic costs of the disease are tremendous, with annual expenditures of 
nearly $50 billion, mostly from hospitalizations for exacerbations of COPD and associated sequelae.2 For 
the vast majority of patients, despite optimal pharmacological therapy, living with COPD is characterized 
by unrelieved dyspnea, physical inactivity, deconditioning, and an insidious downward spiral of social 
isolation and depression that has a profound impact on the lives of patients and their caregivers.3,4  
 
Physical inactivity is significantly associated with more frequent hospitalizations and increased 
mortality in COPD even after adjusting for disease severity.5-10 Our recent findings further extend these 
observations by showing that hospitalized COPD patients who reported engaging in any level of 
moderate to vigorous exercise prior to the index admission had a 34% lower risk of 30-day readmission 
compared to inactive patients.11 Reducing 30-day hospital readmissions has become a major focus of 
many health care systems, with most efforts targeted at addressing deficiencies in care transitions and 
short-term outpatient management following discharge.12-14 Missing from many of these efforts is the 
recognition that a majority of hospitalizations for chronic illnesses like COPD reflect failures in aggressive 
and proactive outpatient management of COPD exacerbations, comorbidities, and behavioral risk 
factors. 
 
The evidence is unequivocal that pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) improves symptoms, health-
related quality of life, and exercise capacity in COPD.15,16 While PR has been a guideline-recommended 
therapy since 2001and is a Medicare covered benefit, uptake remains suboptimal, with only 1-3% of 
eligible patients ever participating.17,18 The organizational, provider, and patient-level barriers to 
participation are well-known, persistent, and remain inadequately addressed.17-19  Moreover, gains from 
PR have a predictable decay over 6-12 months since most patients are not able to sustain these lifestyle 
changes independently in the face of a chronic progressive illness.15,20-22 Novel approaches that 
overcome limitations of the current model are desperately needed in order to achieve the triple aim of 
more patient-centered care, with better outcomes at lower cost, for the vast majority of patients who 
currently cannot access PR. 
 
There is significant recent interest and focus on testing lifestyle PA interventions.23,24 Several 
different PA intervention models have been tested by us and others that combine various elements of 
supervised25,26 and independent exercise27, some with the use of pedometers28-31 alone or in 
combination with a motivational Internet-enabled platform32-34 and telephone based coaching.26,28,31,32 
Together, findings from these published studies suggest that patients with COPD can increase their PA.  
Despite the growing evidence base for PA interventions, there is a critical gap regarding the real-world 
effectiveness of improving PA in large representative samples of older adults with COPD and its impact 
on widely accepted clinical endpoints.  
 
SPECIFIC AIMS 
1. Refine a patient-centered physical activity coaching (Walk On!) intervention model to improve 
outcomes for patients with COPD who are at high risk for hospitalization. 
2. Conduct a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of the Walk On! 
intervention compared to standard care on the primary composite outcome of all-cause 
hospitalizations, observation stays, emergency department visits, and mortality and secondary 
outcomes of COPD-related hospitalizations, observation stays and emergency department visits, 

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number of outpatient treated COPD exacerbations, physical activity, cardio-metabolic markers, 
symptoms, and health-related quality of life. 
Hypothesis: Patients randomized to Walk On! will have a 7% (revised: 5.5%) absolute reduction in 
the primary composite outcome in the 12 months after randomization compared to standard care 
patients.  Walk On! patients will also have increased physical activity, fewer COPD-related 
encounters, better cardio-metabolic markers, lower symptoms, and improved quality of life.   
3. Examine the effectiveness of Walk On! in patient subgroups (presence of multi morbidities, level of 
social support, gender, race/ethnicity, and access to the Internet).  
4. Use mixed methods to understand the barriers and facilitators of successful uptake of the Walk On! 
intervention components. 
 
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS  
Study Setting 
Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) is a large integrated health care system that 
provides comprehensive health care services for approximately 1 in 5 Southern California residents (~4.5 
million members). Kaiser Permanente is the largest real-world care setting in the nation and the ideal 
test-bed to conduct cost-effective pragmatic trials of innovative lifestyle behavioral models. Members 
enroll through the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan for prepaid health care insurance. KPSC provides care 
at 14 hospitals, 16 medical service areas, and nearly 200 medical offices through a partnership of more 
than 6,000 physicians.  There is a robust and comprehensive electronic medical record system (Epic™) 
and online patient health portal (kp.org).  
 
Overview of Design 
A conceptual model guiding this study is illustrated in Figure 1.  We hypothesize that increased 
physical activity leads to improvements in both physiological (decreased ventilatory requirements and 
breathlessness, improved cardio-metabolic management, and lower levels of inflammation) and 
psychological (improved mood, lower anxiety and increased self-efficacy for self-care) factors.  Changes 
in these mediators are associated with increased quality of life, fewer COPD exacerbations, decreased 
acute care utilization, and improved survival.   
 
Figure 1. Walk On! Conceptual Model 
 

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This study is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of a physical 
activity coaching intervention (Walk On!) compared to standard care for patients at high risk for COPD 
exacerbations (Figure 2).  Our research question, study design, and proposed methods are aligned with 
methodological standards for pragmatic or real-world clinical trials (Table 1).35  We used automated 
methods to identify approximately 1,650 (revised to 2,707) eligible patients with a COPD-related 
hospitalization, emergency department visit, or overnight observation stay in the previous 12 months 
from KPSC electronic medical records system (EMR) and randomized patients in a 1:1 ratio to the Walk 
On! intervention or standard care.  Patients randomized to Walk On! were approached by existing KPSC 
clinical staff (respiratory therapists who served as physical activity coaches) to participate in the 12-
month physical activity coaching program.  Patients randomized to standard care were not contacted 
about the trial with the exception of a subgroup (n=250, revised to 537) who were invited to complete 
surveys over 12 months.  Patients were enrolled in waves over 24 months.  
 
The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause hospitalizations, emergency department 
visits, observation stays, and death in the 12 months following randomization.  Secondary outcomes 
included COPD-related encounters, cardio-metabolic markers (BMI, BP, HbA1C, and lipids), self-reported 
physical activity, symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQL), perception of support for PA, and 
satisfaction with the program.  All utilization and clinical outcomes were captured from the EMR.  
Patient reported outcomes (PROs) were measured with standardized surveys.  
 
Table 1. PRECIS Pragmatic Study Design 
PRECIS Criteria 
Criteria for Pragmatic Trials 
Physical Activity Coaching Trial (Walk On!) 
Participants  
All eligible participants enrolled, regardless of 
risk, responsiveness, comorbidities or past 
compliance.  
All adult health plan members who had a COPD 
hospitalization/ED visit/Ob Stay in the past 12 months 
(excluding patients who clearly would not benefit from 
Walk On) were enrolled.  
Intervention 
Condition  
Interventions are highly flexible, offering 
providers leeway in formulation and 
application.  
Walk On! allowed for tailoring to patients’ needs and 
preferences. Varying levels of participation were 
expected.  
Intervention 
Practitioners  
Interventions are applied by the full range of 
practitioners in the full range of settings with 
only ordinary attention to dose and side 
effects.  
Intervention clinicians were recruited from the existing 
local workforce (respiratory therapists). The sites were 
responsible for selection and supervision of clinicians 
(using standard quality control tools).  
Comparison 
Condition  
“Usual Practice” (or the best alternative), 
offering practitioners considerable leeway in 
application.  
Walk On! was compared to standard of care that 
members with COPD receive based on their existing 
health plan benefits.  
Comparison 
Practitioners  
The control intervention is applied by the full 
range of clinicians in the full range of settings, 
with only ordinary attention to training, 
experience, and performance. 
Standard care was provided by real-world providers under 
usual practice conditions – with no additional training or 
supervision.  
Follow-Up 
Assessments  
There are no research assessments; existing 
databases are searched for outcomes.  
All utilization and clinical data were collected from 
existing electronic medical records and insurance claims 
data. Limited patient-reported outcomes were collected 
from intervention patients and a randomly selected 
subgroup of standard care patients 
Outcome 
Definition  
The primary outcome is objectively measured, 
meaningful to study participants, and does 
not depend on central adjudication.  
Primary and secondary outcomes were defined by 
utilization, pharmacy, and clinical data (exercise; cardio-
metabolic markers). No additional clinical assessment was 
required. 
Intervention 
Compliance  
There are no special strategies to improve 
compliance, and compliance is unobtrusively 
measured.  
Quality of implementation were assessed using a study 
dashboard. 

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Figure 2. Walk On! Study Design 
 
Patients with a COPD-related hospitalization, emergency department visit, or observation stay in the 
previous 12 months and meet all other inclusion/exclusion criteria will be identified from the EMR (n=2707)
Standard Care (No Contact About Trial-Data Only)
n=1349
Physical Activity Coaching (Walk On!) 
n=1358
*EMR Outcomes on ALL Walk On! Patients*
Primary Outcome: 12-mo all-cause hospitalizations, 
emergency department visits, observation stays and death
Secondary Outcomes: COPD-related hospitalizations, ED 
visits, observation stays; number of COPD exacerbations, 
percent of inactive patients, cardio-metabolic markers (BMI, 
BP, HbA1c, and lipids)
All eligible patients are RANDOMIZED
Recruitment letter and 2 outreach contacts 
Decline to participate in 
intervention activities
n=xxx
Agree to participate in 
intervention activities & 
complete baseline surveys 
n=xxx
*EMR Outcomes on ALL Standard Care Patients*
Primary Outcome: 12-mo all-cause hospitalizations, 
emergency department visits, observation stays and death
Secondary Outcomes: COPD-related hospitalizations, ED 
visits, observation stays; number of COPD exacerbations, 
percent of inactive patients, cardio-metabolic markers (BMI, 
BP, HbA1c, and lipids)
Random sample of SC patients 
approached to complete 
baseline surveys 
n=537
Patient-Centered Physical Activity Coaching for COPD: A Pragmatic Trial
Unreachable
n=xxx
6 Month Surveys
Symptoms, Depression, Anxiety, QoL
12 Month Surveys
Symptoms, Depression, Anxiety, QoL
6 Month Surveys
Symptoms, Depression, Anxiety, QoL
12 Month Surveys
Symptoms, Depression, Anxiety, QoL
 
 
Identifying Eligible Patients from the EMR 
Eligible patients from six KPSC medical service areas were identified, randomized and enrolled in this 
study from July 2015-July 2017.  The target sample size of 1,650 was increased to 2,700 in July 2016 due 
to the lower than expected uptake rate. 
 
Inclusion criteria:  
a) Patients with any COPD-related hospitalization, emergency department visit or observation stay in 
the previous 12 months are eligible for the study (June 1, 2014-present) from DO, OC, LAMC, RV, SD, 
and FO medical center areas (PARFU, previous utilization per MCA).  Patients from WLA and SB who 
lived within 10 miles of DO and LAMC were sampled starting with Wave #10 to ensure we reached 
our new sample target. 
 
Practitioner 
Adherence  
There are no special strategies to maintain 
practitioner adherence, and adherence is 
unobtrusively measured.  
Clinical supervision of physical activity coaches are at the 
same intensity as any operational clinical programs.  
Primary 
Comparison  
The analysis includes all patients regardless of 
compliance, eligibility, or others.  
All outcomes will be analyzed according to initial 
assignment – regardless of intervention participation or 
compliance.  

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(Original up to 9/31/15) COPD-related hospital-based utilization are defined according to the 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and National Quality Forum (NQF) criteria for the 
Hospital Readmission Reduction Program. The following principal discharge diagnoses of COPD will 
be included (ICD-9 codes: 491.21, 491.22, 491.8, 491.9, 492.8, 493.20, 493.21, 493.22, and 
496) or respiratory failure (ICD-9 codes: 518.81, 518.82, 518.84, 799.1) with a secondary diagnosis of 
COPD exacerbation (ICD-9 codes: 491.21, 491.22, 493.21, 493.22) 
Updated Effective 10/1/15: Any COPD-related hospitalization, emergency department visit or 
observation stay in the previous 12 months with principal discharge diagnoses of COPD (J44.1, J44.0, 
J41.8, J42, J43.1, J43.2, J43.8, J43.9, J44.9, J44.0, or J44.1) or principal diagnosis of respiratory failure 
(J96.00, J96.01, J96.02, J96.90, J96.91, J96.92, J80, J96.20, J96.21, J96.22, or R09.2) and a secondary 
diagnosis of acute exacerbation of COPD (J44.1 or J44.0) 
Note: If patient has an external KP encounter, two COPD diagnosis codes are required separated by 
2 days in order to be included to avoid miscoding which can occur frequently w/claims data. 
 
ICD-9 Codes (6/1/14-9/31/15) 
ICD-10 Codes (10/1/15-Present) 
Principal discharge diagnosis 
491.21 
J44.1 
491.22 
J44.0 
491.8 
J41.8
491.9 
J42 
492.8 
J43.1, J43.2, J43.8, J43.9 
493.20 
J44.9 
493.21 
J44.0 
493.22 
J44.1 
496 
J44.9 
518.81+ either: 491.21, 491.22, 493.21, or 493.22 
J96.00, J96.01, J96.02, J96.90, J96.91, J96.92 + either J44.1 
or J44.0 
518.82 + either: 491.21, 491.22, 493.21, or 493.22 
J80 + either J44.1 or J44.0 
518.84 + either: 491.21, 491.22, 493.21, or 493.22 
J96.20, J96.21, J96.22 + either J44.1 or J44.0 
799.1 + either: 491.21, 491.22, 493.21, or 493.22 
R09.2 + either J44.1 or J44.0 
b) Age >40 years at the time of the hospitalization/ED visit/Ob stay 
c) On at least a bronchodilator or steroid inhaler prior to the encounter or if not on an inhaler, had a 
previous COPD diagnosis (any outpatient diagnosis is acceptable; inpatient diagnosis is acceptable 
only if it is a KFH admission) 
d) Continuous health plan membership in the 12 months prior to cohort identification.   
 
Exclusion criteria:  
a) For patients with spirometry data, FEV1/FVC ratio >0.70 at any point in the 24 months prior to 
cohort identification; include FEV1/FVC pre-bronchodilator use if post value is unavailable 
b) Discharged to hospice (look for hospice encounter in past 6 months up to cohort identification; add 
home-based PC service as exclusion due to homebound status), a skilled nursing facility, long term-
care or another acute care hospital during the index admission.  *If patients are missing a discharge 
status (this is most common with non-KP encounters), they are excluded. 
c) Level of function at admission or discharge is bed bound during the index admission  
d) Has Alzheimers disease/dementia or metastatic cancer  
ICD-9 
ICD-10 (10/1/15-Present) 
Dementia/Alzheimers 
 
290, 290.10, 290.11, 290.12, 290.20, 290.21, 290.3, 
290.40, 290.41, 290.42, 290.43, 290.8, 290.9 
F03.90, F05, F01.50, F01.51,  
294.10, 294.11, 294.20, 294.21 
F02.80, F02.81, F03.91 

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331.0, 331.11, 331.19, 331.82, 331.83,  
G30.0, G30.1, G30.8, G30.9, G31.01, G31.09, G31.83, 
G31.84 
780.93 
R41.1, R41.2, R41.3 
Metastatic/Advanced Cancers 
 
153.9 
C18.9 
162.9 
C34.90, C34.91, C34.92
174.9 
C50.911, C50.912, C50.919  
183 
C56.1, C56.2, C56.9, C57.00, C57.01, C57.02, C57.10, 
C57.11, C57.12, C57.3, C57.20, C57.21, C57.22, C57.4  
196 
C77.0, C77.1, C77.2, C77.3, C77.4, C77.5, C77.8, C77.9 
197 
C78.00, C78.01, C78.02, C78.1, C78.2, C78.30, C78.39, 
C78.4, C78.5, C78.6, C78.7, C78.80, C78.89 
198 
C79.00, C79.01, C79.02, C79.10, C79.11, C79.19, C79.2, 
C79.31, C79.32, C79.40, C79.49, C79.51, C79.52, C79.60, 
C79.61, C79.62, C79.70, C79.71, C79.72, C79.81, C79.82, 
C79.89, C79.9 
e) Morbidly obese (BMI >40) at time of cohort identification 
f) Completed pulmonary rehabilitation in the 6 months prior to cohort identification (OVG150 visit 
code for internal PR; G0424, G0237, 97150, 97530, 97110 for claims data with duration of at least 30 
days between the first and last session for all claims)  
g) Deceased at cohort identification 
h) Dis-enrolled from the health plan at cohort identification 
 
Randomization 
We considered and rejected the option of group- or cluster-level randomization. The core Walk 
On! components were applied at the level of the individual patient rather than the provider or clinic, so 
cross-over or spill-over of intervention effects within clinics or providers should not occur. Consequently, 
there was no scientific advantage to cluster-level randomization.  
 
All eligible patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to Walk On! or to continue with standard care, 
stratified by medical center, time from hospitalization/ED/Ob Stay (<6months vs. ≥ 6months), level of 
physical activity obtained from the exercise vital sign closest to the cohort identification date (inactive: 0 
min/week of moderate/vigorous physical activity, MVPA vs. active: at least 1 min/week of MVPA; 
patient will be assumed to be inactive if no EVS available), and median age (<72 vs. ≥72) by random 
permuted blocks to ensure balance and reduce bias. The randomization was pre-generated and included 
two steps for each stratum. First, the block size was randomly selected among a set of pre-selected 
block. Second, within each block randomly selected, the overall number of treatment assignments was 
balanced between groups, but the order of treatment assignment was randomly assigned. We repeated 
this process until the number of maximum expected patients was reached. We reviewed every 6 months 
to determine balance across the two groups on these characteristics and did not make any modifications 
to the scheme. 
 
For standard care patients (n=250; revised to n=537 due to a lower than expected response 
rate) who were approached to complete surveys, with each recruitment wave, we randomly selected 
patients from the six sites proportional to the number of patients randomized to Walk On!  We sent 
surveys to all SC patients on the final wave due to the low response rate from the earlier waves.   
 
The anchor date for all patients is the date they are identified and randomized to treatment 
arms.  For example, a patient had a COPD admission/ED/Obs encounter on June 25, 2014 and is 
identified for the study on June 30, 2015, the anchor date would be June 30, 2015.  The 12-month pre-

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intervention period would include the index encounter (June 25, 2014 to June 30, 2015) and the post-
intervention period would be July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. 
 
Consent and Passive Monitoring 
Following a single consent design,36,37 only those assigned to Walk On! were asked to consent to 
intervention activities. Patients assigned to standard care were not contacted about the study. Our IRB 
considered passive monitoring of outcomes using existing EMR data a minimal risk activity that did not 
require patient consent.  We believe that such an approach is both scientifically necessary and ethically 
justified.  Acceptability of Walk On! to patients and level of participation are essential components of 
real-world effectiveness. If we limited trial enrollment to those who volunteer to receive Walk On!, 
findings regarding intervention acceptability or adherence may have limited scientific value.  Moreover, 
we believed the subset of patients who agree to be in an RCT is substantially different from the subset 
of patients who would agree to do Walk On! if offered it; findings regarding intervention effects on the 
primary outcome would have questionable validity and limited generalizability.   
 
Standard Care (SC) Control 
Standard care patients continued to receive their routine care from KPSC and had access to all 
health services, e.g. primary, specialty care, pulmonary rehabilitation, health education and lifestyle 
programs in accordance with their health plan.  Standard care patients received no instructions to 
exercise and were not contacted about the trial, with the exception of a randomly selected subgroup 
(n=250, revised to 537) with each recruitment wave to complete PROs at 6 and 12 months (with 
exception of satisfaction surveys) for comparison to the Walk On! patients. 
 
Rationale for Standard Care as a Comparator 
We chose to compare the Walk On! intervention to standard of care for the following reasons: 
1) there were insufficient data from large scale studies to support any specific PA intervention model for 
COPD and most small efficacy studies have had restrictive inclusion criteria; and 2) since there are no 
scalable programs available, standard care (which includes access to pulmonary rehabilitation) was the 
most appropriate comparator from the perspective of the healthcare system that is considering 
implementing the intervention and the individual patient who is considering participating in the 
intervention. We considered an active control group with mail outreach to remind members of the 
programs available to them. However, this would not increase the scientific value of the study, given 
that such low intensity touches are historically known to be ineffective. 
 
Study Procedures  
For those patients randomized to Walk On!, a recruitment packet that included a letter signed 
by the principal investigator and the pulmonary physician in charge for the medical service area, a study 
brochure describing the Walk On! program, and a 3-min DVD video “testimonial” 
(http://abc7.com/archive/9501102/) about the importance of PA by one of the Patient Advisory Board 
(PAB) members was mailed within 1-6 business days of cohort selection and randomization.  (Note: We 
stopped mailing the DVD after wave 4 due to patient and coaches’ feedback that they were not being 
watched. Uptake of Walk On! was not negatively impacted by eliminating the DVD from our recruitment 
packet.) Patients had the option of calling the physical activity coach to either agree to participate, or to 
opt-out in response to the mailing.  If patients did not actively call the PA coach for more information or 
to opt-in to the study, the coaches conducted a total of two outreach contacts via phone and/or secure 
message seven business days after the mailing. When contact was made with the patient, the coach 
described the purpose of the study, how the patient was selected for participation, the Walk On! 

12 
 
intervention, and time commitment.  After addressing the patient’s questions, the coach obtained oral 
consent and scheduled the baseline orientation intake visit.  Patients did not have any further contact to 
recruit them once the recruitment packet was sent and two contact attempts were made.  
Patients who agreed to participate in Walk On! activities were sent a baseline packet 
approximately ten days before their scheduled baseline visit that included: 1) a consent form, 2) an 
activity sensor, 3) an additional copy of the study brochure, and 4) surveys to assess their physical 
activity, symptom burden (COPD Assessment Test, CAT), depression (PHQ-8), and anxiety (GAD-7), and 
quality of life (PROMIS-10).  Patients were asked to wear one of two available sensors for up to seven 
days prior to the baseline visit.  After the visit, patients received four weekly coaching phone calls.  
Outreach by the PA coaches for the remaining 11 months were individualized and targeted based on 
patients’ progress with their walking program.  Patients were also encouraged to attend monthly peer 
support meetings.   
At six and 12 months after their randomization date, patients were sent a survey packet and a 
$5 gift card.  A reminder letter was sent if the surveys are not received within two weeks.  Finally, a 
phone follow-up was made seven business days after the reminder letter.  Patients had the option of 
providing their survey responses over the phone.   
For standard care patients, a random sample (n=250, revised to 537) was invited to complete 
the same set of surveys at baseline, six and 12 months, with the exception of the satisfaction questions, 
in order to compare changes in PROs between intervention and standard care patients.  These patients 
were only informed that their medical center is participating in a study to improve outcomes for 
members with COPD.  We used the same mailing and phone-based follow up procedures described 
above.   
Walk On! Physical Activity Coaching Intervention 
Theoretical Foundations 
The Walk On! intervention was designed based on learnings from a series of collective 
studies45,47,48,85 by the investigative team that were informed by early and deep engagement with 
patient stakeholders and is grounded in social cognitive38 and self-regulation theories39,40 and core 
principles of motivational interviewing (Table 2).41 In self-efficacy theory, the impetus for change resides 
in the individual’s efficacy expectations or one’s “confidence in one’s ability to take and persist in 
action.” These expectations reflect a person’s beliefs about how capable he or she is in performing a 
task. External environmental supports, like professional, peer and family modeling and engagement in 
similar behaviors also increases efficacy. Walk On! had three core components (baseline 
assessment/orientation, intensive coaching, and pro-active support) with built in flexibility to 
accommodate the diverse preferences and needs of patients as well as anticipated implementation 
constraints. We focused on promoting walking as the primary mode of PA since nearly 90% of activities 
that patients with COPD engage in are ambulatory in nature and it is a safe and accessible form of PA.42 
The estimated time commitment ranged from 6-18 hours over the course of 12 months depending on 
patients’ participation in various Walk On! activities. 
 
 

13 
 
Table 2. Walk On! Intervention Mapping 
Target Concept (Source) 
Walk On! Strategy 
Enhancing self-efficacy for increasing 
physical activity  
 
 
Performance or enactive 
accomplishments 
Guiding patients to set achievable walking goals each week to increase their 
mastery of walking gradually 
 
Re-interpretation of signs and 
symptoms 
Practicing breathing strategies to cope with dyspnea during walking, and, over 
time, developing a recognition that one can do more with the same level of 
dyspnea (desensitization to dyspnea) 
Tracking and reporting symptoms every week increased awareness of changes in 
symptoms that might interfere with walking and daily activities to facilitate earlier 
treatment and reduce disease-specific barriers to walking 
 
Vicarious experience 
Social modeling allowed patients to be positively influenced by the achievement 
of other participants initially during the orientation session and during the 
ongoing monthly group meetings 
 
Social persuasion 
Encouragement from coaches and peers during orientation session; ongoing 
reinforcement from coaches via phone/secure messaging; and peer interactions 
during monthly meetings 
Exercise specific social support 
Identification of family or friends to support efforts at increasing physical activity, 
including attendance at Walk On!  activities 
Peer support and networking during monthly group meetings that include 
enactment of walking/light exercise 
 
 
Iterative rational behavior change 
 
 
Accurate self-monitoring 
Study-issued step counting devices allowed patients to track their daily progress 
accurately 
 
Incremental goal setting 
Dynamic individualized incremental goals suggested by the IVR and Internet-based 
intervention platforms 
 
Motivational feedback 
Patients received real-time feedback from the step counting devices and 
personalized motivational feedback and guidance as needed from the coaches  
 
Walk On! Intervention Components 
A. In-person individual or group orientation visit (Week 0) Patients had the option of attending the 
orientation session individually or with one other patient who lived within a close geographical area to 
promote peer bonding and support. Since social support43 has been shown to be critical for behavior 
change, patients were also encouraged to identify and invite a family or friend care partner to this visit.      
 
1) Education and skills training on PA & COPD management.  During the visit, the coach discussed the 
importance of PA for COPD self-care, what patients hoped to achieve with increasing PA, how to 
manage their symptoms with PA, maintaining safety with PA, and strategies to overcome personal 
barriers to regular PA. Patients were provided a paper copy of the Walk On! Patient Guide (Appendix 
Section 2).30 
 
2) Baseline functional assessment for PA prescription.  Patients completed a six-minute walk test 
(6MWT) while wearing their activity sensor and had their oxygen saturation and heart rate measured 
pre- and post- test. Patients who desaturated <88% at the end of the 6MWT were evaluated for 
supplemental oxygen prior to starting their PA program. The coach (see detailed description below) 
tailored the initial walking prescription according to patients’ performance on the 6MWT and their 
average steps/day during the baseline 7-day monitoring period; they used the higher of the two step 
counts as an initial step goal. Our previous data showed that patients typically perform at approximately 
60% of the walking intensity achieved during the 6MWT.44 Thus, we derived a step count goal of total 
steps accrued during the 6MWT multiplied by a factor of 5 to achieve approximately 30 minutes of 

14 
 
walking per day. For instance, a patient who accrued 500 steps during the 6MWT might be asked to aim 
for 1500 steps/day during week one (500 x 5 x 0.60 = 1500 steps/day). For patients who were more frail 
and for whom walking would initially be difficult due to severe deconditioning, we loaned a portable 
cycle ergometer for patients to use during the first four weeks to strengthen their walking muscles and 
gradually progressed them to a walking program. 
   
3) Training on use of activity sensors & resistance bands. Patients chose one of two devices to monitor 
their step counts, the Omron HJ329 pedometer or Tractivity accelerometer based on their preference 
and access to the Internet, and were trained on their proper use. The Omron has an on-device display 
whereas the Tractivity device displays step count data via any Internet or Blue-tooth enabled device. 
Patients who did not have Internet access or were Spanish speakers were encouraged to use the Omron 
pedometer since they would be able to see their step counts more easily and could report their average 
weekly step counts to our automated telephone interactive voice response (IVR) system (Spanish script), 
respectively.  The Omron pedometer was worn on the waist and had been validated and used in several 
of our COPD studies.30,45  (Appendix Section 2 ) 
 
The Tractivity, worn on the ankle, was validated against a research grade accelerometer in a general 
population of hospitalized medical-surgical patients (n=20)46 and used by patients in our pilot with 
acceptable concordance with a research grade accelerometer (Stepwatch).  Patients who chose to use 
Tractivity were shown how to download a small applet on their Internet-enabled device and how to 
view their step counts.  (Appendix Section 2) 
 
Note: The vendor that provided the Tractivity sensors went out of business in December 2016.  We were 
only able to offer patients the Omron device with recruitment waves 10 and 11 while we worked on 
evaluating alternative devices, selecting and testing our top selection and configuring and testing our 
systems to accommodate a new device for the final wave.  We were able to offer patients the option of 
using a wrist-worn, FitBit Alta or an Omron device for wave 12. We also converted patients from the 
earlier waves who had challenges with using their Omron device to the FitBit if their coaches felt that 
having the FitBit device help with engagement and motivation.  (Appendix Section 2) 
 
Since breathlessness with daily activities that involve the upper extremities is common in this 
population, patients were also instructed on arm exercises using study-issued resistance bands to 
strengthen their upper extremities.  They were asked to complete these arm exercises 3 times/week, 
but these exercises were not closely tracked. 
 
B. Intensive coaching (Weeks 1-4). We have found that the initial weeks of starting a walking program 
are most critical and are a time when patients require significant support to solve problems and barriers 
that arise as they integrate a new activity in their daily lives. Thus, the coach conducted weekly phone 
calls to help patients progress with their PA goals, reinforce COPD self-care skills, support patients’ 
efforts to monitor their activities and symptoms, assist with problem solving PA barriers, and 
troubleshoot any device or technology issues.  The coaches were guided by key principles of 
motivational interviewing such as expressing empathy, rolling with resistance, and supporting self-
efficacy41 to personalize the content of these calls according to the patients’ progress.  The coaches 
made appropriate referrals to either the patient’s primary care provider or pulmonologist regarding any 
clinical issues that needed to be followed up on. Patients were closely guided on how to safely resume 
their PA after experiencing a COPD exacerbation. In addition, participants were instructed during the 
baseline orientation to know when to stop their PA and seek emergent care (e.g. significant increases in 
their dyspnea, chest pain or tightness, or other severe pain associated with activity).   

15 
 
C. Proactive follow-up and support (Weeks 5-52).  Development of a new habit such as PA requires 
regular practice, collaborative monitoring, and ongoing reinforcement and support from credible peer 
models.  Regardless of which activity sensor patients used, both systems were designed to support 
dynamic, timely feedback, and individualized, iterative goal setting. 
 
1) Proactive monitoring and follow up.  Patients who used the Omron received an automated IVR phone 
call each week that queried them about their breathing, presence of any health issue(s) that interfered 
with their PA, and their average step count in the past week.  Based on the patients’ responses, a step 
goal was suggested for the subsequent week.  These calls lasted, at most, 3 minutes. We recognized 
from our previous studies and feedback from our PAB that not all patients would agree to wear a 
pedometer to track their step counts; thus, we built into our IVR system an option for patients to enter 
the frequency and duration of their PA. The IVR system provided recommendations for PA duration 
instead of steps in these situations.   
 
Patients who used the Tractivity device transmitted their data to an Internet-enabled device 
(smartphone, tablet or laptop) via Bluetooth and responded to the same two questions about their 
breathing and health status as asked of Omron users, which generated the step goal recommendation 
for the subsequent week. Patients were encouraged to review the graphical summary of their step 
counts, which displayed past step data and suggested step goals.  
 
The personalized step goal algorithm (Figure 4) was designed to ensure that the step progression was 
safe and minimized common adverse events such as increased muscle soreness, more dyspnea and 
fatigue associated with increasing PA.  Email alerts were generated to the coaches when patients 
reported worsening breathing and health problems interfering with their PA. 
 
Patients who used the FitBit Alta are not asked the weekly health and breathing questions due to our 
inability to deploy these questions within the FitBit web application nor were we able automatically 
generate suggested step goals based on their previous week’s performance and survey responses.  
However, patients have access to all the various tracking functionalities available on the FitBit website to 
use at their discretion.  
 
 

16 
 
Figure 3. Walk On! Program 
 
 
 

17 
 
Figure 4. Step Goal Algorithm 
Breathing: Usual or Better
Health Problems: No
Health Problems: Yes
IVR System
Step Goal Target: 
Increment average total 
daily step count:
A) <2000 steps: +20%
B) >2000 steps: +400 
steps
“Based on the 
information you’ve 
reported, we suggest you 
aim for xxx steps on 
average each day next 
week”
*If 0 PA/steps reported, 
use previous week’s goal
Breathing: Worse
Health Problems: No
Health Problems: Yes
IVR System
Step Goal Target: 
Continue with reported 
average step count for 
the week. “Based on the 
information you’ve 
reported, we suggest you 
aim for [provide step 
count they reported for 
current week].”
*If 0 PA/steps reported, 
suggest 500 steps/day
IVR System
Step Goal Target: Do not 
suggest any step goal
“Based on your report of 
worsening breathing and 
health problems 
interfering with your 
activity, we recommend 
that you cut back on your 
activities.  We will send a  
message to your coach 
for follow-up.”
*No step goal 
suggestions in the first 
30 days after IVR 
registration
*Min steps goal: 500 
steps/day
*Max steps goal: 
15,000 steps/day
IVR System
PA Minutes Target: 
Days x minutes= total PA 
mins/wk + 10 mins
“Based on the 
information you’ve 
reported, we suggest you 
aim for a total of xx 
minutes of physical 
activity next week”
IVR System
PA Minutes Target: 
Continue with current 
total PA mins/week. 
 “Based on the 
information you’ve 
reported, we suggest 
that you aim for [provide 
minutes of physical 
activity reported for 
current week]”
*If 0 PA/steps/min 
reported, suggest 500 
steps/day
IVR System
PA Minutes Target: Do 
not suggest any minutes 
goal
“Based on your report of 
worsening breathing and 
health problems 
interfering with your 
activity, we recommend 
that you cut back on your 
activities.  We will send a  
message to your coach 
for follow-up.”
IVR System
PA Minutes Target: 
Continue with current 
total PA mins/week. 
 “Based on the 
information you’ve 
reported, we suggest 
that you aim for [provide 
minutes of physical 
activity reported for 
current week]”
*If 0 PA/steps/min 
reported, suggest 500 
steps/day
*No goal suggestions in 
the first 30 days after 
IVR registration
*Min PA minutes goal: 
70 mins/week
*Max PA minutes goal: 
150 mins/week
If patient reports no steps but reports minutes of activity, use the following algorithm
Walk On! Step Goal Algorithm: IVR System
IVR System
Step Goal Target: 
Continue with reported 
average step count for 
the week. “Based on the 
information you’ve 
reported, we suggest you 
aim for [provide step 
count they reported for 
current week].”
*If 0 PA/steps reported, 
suggest 500 steps/day
 
Breathing: Usual or Better
Health Problems: No
Health Problems: Yes
Breathing: Worse
Health Problems: No
Health Problems: Yes
Tractivity
Step Goal Target: Take 
the average 7 day step 
count (Monday-Sunday) 
and increment for next 
week’s goal:
A) <2000 steps: +20%
B) >2000 steps: +400 
steps
If 0 step count for all 7 
days / no data: continue 
with step goal from 
previous week.
Walk On! Step Goal Algorithm: Tractivity System
Tractivity
Step Goal Target: Take 
average 7 day step count 
(Monday-Sunday) from 
previous week and do 
NOT increase step goal
If 0 step count for all 7 
days / no data step goal 
is 500 steps/day.
Tractivity
Step Goal Target: Do not 
suggest any step goal.  
Present the following 
message:
“Based on your report of 
worsening breathing and 
health problems 
interfering with your 
activity, we recommend 
that you reduce your 
activities.  We will send a  
message to your coach 
for follow-up.”
*No step goal 
suggestions in the first 
30 days after first data 
upload
*Min steps goal: 500 
steps/day
*Max steps goal: 
15,000 steps/day
*If no data upload for 
week, continue with 
step goal from 
previous week 
Tractivity
Step Goal Target: Take 
average 7 day step count 
(Monday-Sunday) from 
previous week and do 
NOT increase step goal
If 0 step count for all 7 
days / no data step goal 
is 500 steps/day.
 
 

18 
 
Data from both the IVR system and Tractivity web site were automatically retrieved and displayed on a 
dashboard for regular review by the coaches (Figure 4). The dashboard facilitated population 
management and targeted phone/secure message outreach to patients who were struggling to progress 
with their walking goals and/or had more severe symptoms than usual, in which case the coach 
communicated with the patient’s provider as needed.  The dashboard facilitated contact and workflow 
management, standardized documentation to track intervention exposure and thus increased the 
efficiency of the quality control/process evaluation efforts. 
 
2) Monthly group visits for psychosocial support from peers, skill-building, and problem solving.  Patients 
had the option of attending monthly hour-long support sessions with their family member or friend. 
These group visits started with 15-minutes of light exercise followed by 15-minutes of informal peer 
interactions and networking.  Peer support is especially important for patients who feel they have 
limited support from their families. The meetings concluded with a 25-minute didactic/skill-building 
component that was broadcasted via the web and tele-conference.  
 
The session topics focused on practical strategies to overcome common barriers to staying active, e.g. 
COPD exacerbations, weather, motivation and other relevant topics related to COPD management.  The 
coaches collaborated in creating power point slides for these topics and collectively reviewed and 
approved the content for 12 topics.  Other slide sets were developed on new topics that were either 
suggested by patients or nominated by the coaches.   
 
Our PAB members participated in these sessions as their time allowed and, along with other peers, 
shared their successes with using community-based resources to stay active.  Patients were entered into 
a raffle for a $20 gift card at each monthly meeting.  Sites that have an active pulmonary rehabilitation 
program were encouraged to combine the Walk On group education visits with the rehabilitation 
education sessions to increase sustainability and efficiency in early to mid-2017.  Two sites were 
successful in doing this mostly because they did not have a physical space constraint.    

19 
 
 
   
Figure 4. Coaches Dashboard (Note: Patient names are fictitious) 

20 
 
 
Walk On! physical activity coach training  
Walk On! coaches were recruited from the existing KPSC workforce of respiratory therapists, 
pulmonary rehabilitation coordinators, and pulmonary care managers. The coaches participated in a 
general motivational training workshop offered to all health care providers in our system and a half day 
in-person project-specific training during the 6-month pilot phase prior to the study launch.  The 
coaches were also provided a detailed guide of the Walk On! program. Each coach implemented the 
Walk On! protocol with 1-4 pilot patients for 3 months in preparation for the trial; the principal 
investigator (HQN) or one of the lead PA coaches observed and provided feedback to the coaches during 
their first 1-2 baseline visits. Issues or concerns with the phone coaching calls were discussed during 
weekly to bi-weekly web conferences. This quality control structure continued throughout the 36-month 
intervention period. 
 
Intervention uptake and fidelity 
Given the pragmatic design where all eligible patients were automatically randomized to 
treatment arms, we closely tracked refusal rates and reasons for patients assigned to the Walk On! 
intervention.  For participants who agreed to actively participate in Walk On!, we used the study 
dashboard to track uptake of the intervention components.  Mild COPD exacerbations that are managed 
on an outpatient basis and hospitalizations/ED visits/observation stays for moderate to severe 
exacerbations are common in this cohort and were expected to be a major barrier to sustained PA and 
participation in intervention activities. Temporary suspension of intervention activities as requested by 
the patient or initiated by the coach due to COPD exacerbations or other acute illness as well as active 
withdrawals were documented. In order to balance the pragmatic nature of the study, we instituted a 
low intensity intervention fidelity assurance plan to include observations of up to five baseline intake 
visits and reviewing up to 5% of the planned and as needed telephone coaching contacts across each 
site.   

21 
 
Measures and Outcomes 
 
Descriptive Variables 
Socio-demographic variables: Age, gender, marital status, education and income (census-based), 
race/ethnicity, and insurance status will be obtained from membership files 
Medications: Pulmonary medications will be obtained from pharmacy databases.  Supplemental oxygen 
use will be obtained from durable medical equipment files. Long-term oxygen use is defined as the 
patient being on oxygen >90 days, allowing a gap of no more than 14 days in the 12 months prior to 
cohort identification. 
Co-morbidities: All available diagnoses from outpatient and inpatient encounters in the 12 months prior 
to cohort identification will be used to calculate the Charlson co-morbidity index  
Injurious Falls (DSMB Report): The following E codes were used prior to 10/1/15: E880-E888. After 
10/1/15, the following codes were used: W00-W19 
 
Primary Outcome 
The primary composite outcome is all-cause hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, 
observational stays, and mortality in the 12 months following randomization.   Given the multiple 
morbidities that patients with advanced COPD have and the known benefits of PA for these other 
chronic conditions, it is reasonable to expect that Walk On! will have positive effects on hospitalizations, 
ED visits, and observation stays for multiple causes.  Walk On! is not expected to have its peak effects 
until at least 6 months into the program and thus, follow-up of at least 12 months is needed for all 
patients; and for those enrolled earlier, follow-up of up to 3 years will be available for secondary 
analyses of long term adherence and effectiveness. 
 
Table 3.  Walk On! Data Collection Scheme
 
Pre-12 Months 
Baseline 
6 Months 
12 Months 
Primary Composite Outcome 
 
 
 
 
  All-cause hospitalization 
X 
 
 
x 
  All-cause emergency department visits 
X 
 
 
x 
  All-cause observation stays 
X 
 
 
x 
  All-cause mortality 
 
 
 
x 
Secondary Outcomes 
 
 
 
 
  COPD-related hospitalizations, ED visits, 
  observation stays, exacerbations 
X 
 
 
x 
  Cardio-metabolic indicators (BMI, HbA1c, BP, and lipids) 
X 
 
 
x 
  Patient-Reported Outcomes 
 
 
 
 
  Self-reported physical activity (exercise vital sign) 
x 
x 
x 
x 
  COPD Assessment Test 
 
x 
x 
x 
  PROMIS-10 Quality of Life 
 
x 
x 
x 
  Personal Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9 
x
x
x
  Generalized Anxiety Disorder, GAD-7 
 
x 
x 
x 
  Perception of Support for Exercise  
 
 
x 
x 
  Satisfaction with Walk On!  
 
 
x 
x 
 
 
 

22 
 
Secondary outcomes 
COPD-related hospitalizations, ED visits, and observation stays will be defined according to the current 
CMS criteria as detailed above in the description of the inclusion criteria. 
COPD exacerbations will be ascertained via pharmacy records 
and utilization data.  Mild to moderate exacerbations of COPD 
are typically characterized by changes in the current therapy to 
include increased use of bronchodilators, a short course of 
prednisone and/or antibiotics.47,48  Our operational definition of 
an outpatient treated AECOPD included an in-person or virtual 
encounter (phone, email, or message) with or without a 
diagnosis of COPD (491.1, 491.21, 491.22, 491.9, 492, 492.8, 
493.2, 493.22, and 496) documented with that encounter and 
accompanied by a prescription fill of either an oral steroid, ATB, 
or steroid and ATB within 2 days of the encounter. 
ICD-9 
ICD-10 
491.1 
J41.1 
491.21 
J44.1 
491.22 
J44.0 
491.9 
J42 
492 
J43.1,J43.2,J43.8,J43.9 
492.8 
J43.1,J43.2,J43.8,J43.9 
493.2 
J44.0,J44.1,J44.9 
493.22 
J44.1 
496 
J44.9 
 
A random sample of 185 probable AECOPD events were selected (n=15 records per strata) for chart 
review by two physicians; disagreements were adjudicated by HQN.  Inter-rater reliability was assessed 
with a random 15% of the sample.  Agreement between the two reviewers was excellent (kappa=0.93). 
Approximately 80% of the virtual encounters had a missing diagnosis code compared to 13% of the in-
person clinic encounters. Restricting to only encounters that have a documented COPD diagnosis would 
fail to capture a large number of AECOPD events (sensitivity: 38%, specificity: 94%). The most optimal 
AECOPD definition which we propose to use included (1) encounters with a documented COPD diagnosis 
followed by a prescription fill of ATB, steroids, or ATB and steroids and (2) encounters with no 
documented COPD diagnosis but followed by a prescription fill of ATB and steroids (sensitivity: 67%, 
specificity: 84%)  
 
Physical Activity. Every patient is asked two questions that capture their regular physical activity 
(exercise vital sign, EVS) during the intake process for all outpatient visits: 1) ‘‘On average, how many 
days per week do you engage in moderate to strenuous (vigorous) exercise (like a brisk walk)?’’ and 2) 
‘‘On average, how many minutes do you engage in exercise at this level?’’ These questions are typically 
asked by front office staff, and patients’ responses are entered into the EMR. Response choices for days 
are categorical (0–7). Minutes are recorded as: 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 150 minutes or 
greater. The EMR system software then multiplies the two self-reported responses to display total 
minutes per week of moderate or vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for the health care provider to 
review. Due to the highly skewed MVPA data, we will categorize patients as being completely inactive (0 
mins/week), insufficiently active (1-149 mins/week) or active, meeting national physical activity 
recommendations (>150 mins/week). Patients with COPD in our health system have on average of 16 
ambulatory visits over a year with approximately, 50% of those visits having usable EVS data. We will 
use all available EVS data to classify patients into their usual pattern of PA based on the modal/median 
EVS values.  If a mode exists (most common category), then mode exercise category was used.  If two 
exercise categories were equally the most common, then the higher category was recorded (unless 
categories are 0 and >150 min/wk then 1-150 min/wk category was used).  The EVS has evidence of 
construct and predictive validity.11,49,50  
 
Cardio-metabolic Markers include body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, 
HbA1C, low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and total cholesterol. All 

23 
 
measurements available in the 12 months prior to identification will be averaged and used as baseline 
values.   
 
For follow-up assessments of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, we will use the average of all routine 
clinic blood pressure readings taken between 6 and 12-months post-randomization.  Blood pressures 
obtained with temperatures of >100F and those obtained in urgent care are excluded.  
 
For the others, we will use the measure that is closest to the 12-month post-study enrollment date. 
Based on KPSC clinical care practices and our prior research experiences, we expect to have close to 
complete information on BMI and blood pressure for all patients; we should have near complete data on 
HbA1c for the approximately 35% of patients with co-morbid diabetes.  
 
Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) (Appendix Section 2) 
 
Health-Related Quality of life (HRQL). Increased PA is expected to positively affect COPD and other co-
morbid illnesses and consequently, improve patients’ physical and mental health. The PROMIS-10 Global 
Quality of Life is used to measure HRQL.  
 
Symptoms.  COPD specific symptoms are measured with the COPD Assessment Test (CAT).  Depression 
and anxiety which are common in COPD are assessed with the Personal Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9 
and General Anxiety Disorder, GAD-7 survey.  Note: The suicide ideation question of the PHQ-9 was 
removed after the second recruitment wave based on feedback from patients who felt the question was 
tangential to a program on physical activity.  All study participants are referred to a depression care 
manager (if they agree) if they score 10 points or higher on the PHQ-8.  
 
Health behavior.  Physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep are measured using five questions modeled 
from national health surveys. 
 
Perception of support for PA is measured with three questions which have been used our previous 
studies ask patients regarding the amount of support they receive for their physical activity from their 
coach, family members/friends, and health care provider.  
 
Satisfaction. Overall satisfaction with Walk On! and its components including the baseline orientation, 
intensive follow-up in the first 4 weeks, pro-active monitoring, step goal setting using the IVR and 
Tractivity tools, reinforcement from the coach, and peer support will be measured at 6 and 12 months.   
We are also conducting semi-structured exit interviews with a randomly selected 25% of the Walk On! 
participants (or until thematic saturation) to understand the personal and ecological barriers and 
facilitators to successful uptake of Walk On!   
 
Table 4. Walk On! Data Summary 
 
Source 
Primary Composite Outcome 
 
All cause death-hospitalizations-observation stays-emergency department 
visits 
EMR, claims, membership files (death) 
Secondary Outcomes 
 
COPD-related deaths-hospitalizations-observation stays-emergency 
department visits 
EMR, claims, membership files (death) 
Outpatient treated COPD exacerbations 
EMR, pharmacy 

24 
 
Cardio-metabolic markers (body mass index, systolic blood pressure, 
diastolic blood pressure, HbA1C, low density lipoprotein, high density 
lipoprotein, triglycerides, and total cholesterol) 
EMR 
Health related quality of life (Physical and mental) 
PROMIS-10 survey 
Symptom burden  
COPD Assessment Test 
Depression  
PHQ-8 
Anxiety  
GAD-7 
Health behaviors 
 
   Self-reported physical activity from routine care 
EMR (exercise vital sign) 
   Physical activity history in 30’s, 40’s, 50’s 
Survey 
   Sedentary time (hrs) 
Survey 
   Sleep (hrs) 
Survey 
Perception of support for physical activity 
Survey 
Satisfaction with Walk On! program components 
Survey and semi-structured exit interviews 
Process Measures 
 
Uptake/penetration of recruitment outreach 
Study tracker 
   % patients agreed to participate 
 
   % patients completed baseline visit (enrolled) 
 
Reasons for withdrawals, drop outs, & lost to F/U 
Study tracker 
% completed at least 4 coaching calls in first 5 weeks 
Study dashboard 
Total # phone contacts over 12 months (median, min, max) overall and by 
activity sensor used 
Study dashboard 
% participants attending group visits (1, 2-5, 6+) 
Study tracker 
Change in step counts over 12 months  
Study dashboard 
Physical activity coaches’ perception of enablers and barriers to 
implementation of Walk On 
Ongoing weekly coaches meeting 
 
Analytical Plan 
Descriptive statistics will be calculated prior to conducting the primary analyses. For all analyses, 
data consistency and assumptions required, e.g., normality of responses will be checked. Any data 
transformation or alternative methods necessary to analyze the data will be determined by examining 
the data structure. Baseline characteristics will be compared between the two groups to assess whether 
randomization balanced the group characteristics. The analyses will follow an intent-to-treat (ITT) 
strategy, i.e. the analyses will include all randomized participants in the groups to which they were 
randomly assigned, regardless of their adherence with the treatment and subsequent withdrawal.  
 
Analysis for Aim #2 
To test the primary hypothesis that the proportion of patients with any occurrence of all-cause 
hospitalizations, ED visits, observation stays, and death 12 months after randomization will be 
significantly lower in the Walk On! intervention group compared to standard care, we will use logistic 
regression adjusted for randomization stratification variables (medical centers, time from 
hospitalization/ED/Ob Stay, level of activity and age). For the secondary outcomes, logistic regression 
will be used for categorical outcomes and analysis of variance will be used for continuous outcomes. 
Baseline characteristics that are unbalanced between the two groups will be included as covariates. 
Baseline characteristics for patients who do not complete the study due to health plan disenrollment 
will be compared to the patients who complete the study and differential “drop outs” between the two 
groups will be assessed by an interaction test between the intervention group and drop-out indicators. 
We expect little to no missing data for the health care utilization outcomes. Secondary as-treated 
analyses will be conducted based on actual treatment received to assess the efficacy of the intervention. 
Results from this analysis will be compared to the ITT analysis and any differences will be reported and 
interpreted with caution. 

25 
 
Since some participants will have follow-up data as far as 3 years after randomization, we will 
perform additional analyses to evaluate the intervention effect on long-term outcomes. We will use 
Poisson regression to assess the intervention effect on the average events during the entire study period 
and use survival analyses to assess the intervention effect on time to the first event.  Generalized 
estimating equation (GEE) and mixed effects models will be used to compare the average proportions 
and mean changes for continuous outcomes between intervention groups, while taking into account 
correlated measures.  
 
Heterogeneity of treatment effect (Aim #3) 
We will assess heterogeneity of treatment effect by testing for a limited number of interactions, 
to determine whether intervention effects differ by patient subgroups, e.g. presence of other common 
morbidities (heart failure, diabetes, depression, and anxiety), level of social support, race/ethnicity 
(White vs. non-White), gender, age, and access to the Internet. These are pre-planned hypotheses and 
significant treatment heterogeneity will be declared through interaction tests with a standard alpha-
level. The nature of the heterogeneity will be further assessed through subgroup analysis. Point 
estimates and appropriate confidence intervals will be presented. We may conduct other exploratory 
interaction and subgroup analyses, for which, appropriate alpha adjustment will be made to minimize 
the chance finding (type I error).  Although these analyses will be exploratory in nature, it is critical that 
we understand what patient characteristics are associated with response to Walk On! in order to 
appropriately target the intervention in future dissemination efforts.  
 
Missing data 
Because of our integrated health delivery system and ability to capture all utilization internally 
and externally, we expect little to no missing data for the primary outcome or other secondary measures 
of health care utilization.  For other EMR-based secondary measures such as self-reported physical 
activity and cardio-metabolic markers, we also expect to have nearly complete data since this patient 
cohort has on average 16 outpatient encounters with our health system annually. We will only analyze 
A1C and lipid data in the subset of patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We expect a 
higher level of missing data for PROs (symptoms, quality of life). Baseline characteristics will be 
compared between patients with and without PRO data. For any missing data, we will assess whether 
data is likely missing completely at random (MCAR) or missing at random (MAR) or missing not at 
random (MNAR) by comparing patient characteristics. Sensitivity analysis and appropriate missing data 
imputation techniques will be deployed depending on the types of missing data. Results will be 
compared and differences will be interpreted with caution.   
 
Measuring and accounting for confounders 
All characteristics we can obtain from EMR and membership files will be extracted. This includes 
but is not limited to age, gender, marital status, insurance status, race/ethnicity, smoking status, BMI, 
Charlson index, O2 use, FEV1%predicted, prior number of hospitalization, etc. Due to randomization, we 
do not expect baseline values of these covariates will confound the data analysis assessing the 
effectiveness of Walk On! using the ITT samples. However, it is likely that these variables may confound 
the data analysis assessing the efficacy of Walk On! using the patients who actually receive the 
intervention (as-treated sample). This is because intervention acceptance, uptake and adherence may 
vary by patient characteristics and outcomes may vary by these characteristics. We will assess potential 
confounding and report results with and without appropriate adjustment.    
 
Qualitative analysis for Aim #4 

26 
 
Interviews will be conducted with a random sample of active Walk On! participants at 6 month 
and 12 month (study completion) post-enrollment in both English and Spanish. These 30-minute 
telephone interviews will seek participant feedback about their interaction with coaches, most/least 
enjoyable aspects of participation, technical difficulties, improvements in health, and suggested study 
improvements.  
Data will be collected by study staff (“interviewer”) by telephone. The interviewer will type 
notes in to a Microsoft Word document during the interview. Immediately following the interview, the 
interviewer will review and improve upon the notes. Data will be compiled and pasted in to Microsoft 
Excel for analysis. Three project staff will independently code data based on eight thematic elements: 
most enjoyable aspect of program; least enjoyable aspect of program; will participant continue physical 
activity after the year of program participation; how long should the program last; technology; coach 
interaction; stamina/changes in health due to program; suggested program improvements. Staff will 
meet to review coding and resolve coding differences through discussion. Data will be triangulated with 
survey response data, support group session visits, and information gathered during coaches calls. Data 
will be reviewed by project staff and the Primary Investigator to determine saturation and identify areas 
for further clarification. 
 
Sample Size Estimates 
 
Primary composite outcome (hospitalizations/ED visit/observation stays/death) 
We have factored in features of this pragmatic study design such as randomizing all eligible 
patients and analyzing patients according to their group assignment regardless of the level of 
participation into our sample size calculations.  Data from previous studies of self-management 
interventions in COPD showed a relative reduction of 30% in hospitalizations over 12 months of follow-
up in volunteer sample with similar risk for hospitalizations.51,52 Our previous observational findings 
showed that any level of moderate to vigorous PA was associated with a 34% reduction in 30-day all-
cause readmissions for patients with an index COPD hospitalization.11 Similarly, our more recent 
longitudinal analyses found that any level of PA was associated with a 38% reduction in mortality within 
12-months after a COPD hospitalization.50 In addition, our preliminary data suggest that nearly 50% of 
patients who had a COPD-related hospitalization, ED visit, or observation stay will have another hospital-
based encounter, and a 20% will die in the subsequent 12 months.  
 
Assuming that approximately 50% of the Walk On! patients participate in any aspect of the 
intervention, we estimated a conservative absolute reduction of 7% (relative reduction~10%) in the 
composite primary outcome of all-cause hospitalizations, ED visits, observation stays, and death. 
Allowing for a 15% disenrollment from the health plan and two-tailed α=.05, we anticipated that by 
enrolling a total of 1,650 patients, we will have 80% power to detect an absolute reduction of 7% in the 
primary composite outcome (70% vs. 63%). 
 
Note: Rationale for updated sample size target and power calculation approved by DSMB, PCORI and IRB 
in July 2016 
 
Assuming a revised target sample of n=2,700, allowing for 15% disenrollment and two-tailed α=.05, we 
will have 80% power to detect an effect as small as an absolute difference of 5.5% in the primary 
composite outcome of deaths, hospitalizations, observation stays, and ED visits between Walk On! and 
standard care (64.5% vs. 70%).  Thus, with this revised target sample, we have adequate power to detect 
effect size that is smaller than our original proposed 7% absolute difference. 
 

27 
 
At this point, the target uptake rate that would translate to a minimum of 5.5% difference in the primary 
composite outcome between Walk On! and standard care in the intention to treat analysis is largely 
unknown.  Based on the DSMB’s review of the blinded Kaplan Meier curves for the study 
outcomes/adverse events thus far, the board thought it is possible that the average effects could be 
larger than our original proposed 7% absolute difference even with the uptake rate we have 
experienced so far in this trial.  Given this uncertainty, the DSMB encouraged the team to continue to 
optimize our recruitment strategies and not to be particularly concerned about achieving an uptake 
threshold. 
 
Secondary EMR based outcomes   
For continuous EMR based outcomes, such as cardio-metabolic markers, this sample size will 
allow us to have at least 90% power to detect a small effect size of 0.20; the smallest effect size we can 
detect with 80% power is 0.16. We expect stronger intervention effects on the secondary outcomes of 
COPD-related events and proportion of inactive patients; thus, we have more than sufficient power to 
detect significant and clinically meaningful effects on these outcomes. 
 
Secondary patient-reported outcome (COPD Assessment Test, CAT) 
Our power calculation (α=.05; β=.80) to detect a minimally clinically important difference in the 
primary PRO measure (COPD Assessment Test: ∆ 2 points, SD: 5.2) showed that we need to have at least 
112 completed 12-month survey responses.  Factoring 20% attrition and a response rate of 45-60% 
using a combination of mail and telephone survey administration, we need to approach and administer 
the surveys to approximately 250 randomly selected standard care patients.  Note: Change to sample. 
 
Safety Monitoring 
The data and safety monitoring plan for this study included monitoring recruitment progress 
and potential adverse events resulting from data collection and the intervention activities. Since the 
pragmatic design precluded active outreach to the standard care patients, we relied on EMR-based data 
to conduct ongoing surveillance of events that resulted in a care encounter for safety monitoring. All 
serious adverse events related to study procedures were reported to the IRB and data safety monitoring 
board (DSMB). 
 
Project Milestones and Timeline 
 
Table 5. Milestones and Timeline 
Y1 
Y2 
Y3 
Y4 
Study Activities and Deliverables
Q
1 
Q
2 
Q
3 
Q
4 
Q 
5 
Q 
6 
Q
7 
Q
8 
Q
9 
Q
10 
Q
11 
Q
12 
Q
13 
Q
14 
Q
15 
Q
16 
Project kick-off meeting 
X 
 
 
 
 
 
IRB approval
X 
 
 
 
 
 
Pilot test Walk On! intervention at 4 medical centers 
X 
X 
 
 
 
 
 
Develop & finalize intervention delivery tools in EMR  
X 
 
 
 
 
 
Refine algorithms to identify participants from EMR 
X 
 
 
 
 
 
Refine algorithms to ascertain outcomes from EMR
X 
 
 
 
 
 
Stakeholder meetings
X 
X
X
X
X
X
X 
X 
X
X
X 
X
X 
X
X
Data Safety Monitoring Board meetings 
X 
X
 
X
X 
 
X
X
 
Identify and enroll new study participants 
X
X
X
X
X
X 
X 
X
 
 
Implementation of Walk On! intervention 
X
X
X
X
X
X 
X 
X
X
X 
X
X
 
Process evaluation (formative and summative)
X
X
X
X
X 
X 
X
X
X 
X
X
 
Data collection and outcome ascertainment
X
X
X
X
X 
X 
X
X
X 
X
X
 
Data management, monitoring, QC, analysis 
X
X
X
X
X
X 
X 
X
X
X 
X
X
X
X 
Dissemination: manuscripts and abstracts 
 
 
 
X
X 
X
X 
X
X
 

28 
 
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