Background Patients with bronchiectasis have a less active lifestyle than healthy peers, but the association with hospital admission has not been explored. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between (i) any physical activity (PA) variable and (ii) sedentary time with hospitalisation due to exacerbation in adults with bronchiectasis.

Methods In this prospective observational study, baseline lung function, quality of life, exercise tolerance, severity of bronchiectasis and PA were recorded. PA was objectively assessed over a week using a SenseWear armband, and the results were expressed in steps per day and sedentary time. Number of hospitalisations due to a bronchiectasis exacerbation and time to first event were recorded after 1-year follow-up.

Results Sixty-four patients with bronchiectasis were analysed, of whom 15 (23%) were hospitalised during the follow-up. Hospitalised patients showed poor baseline clinical and severity outcomes, fewer steps walked per day and more sedentary behaviour than the non-hospitalised group. Patients who walked ≤6290 steps per day or spent ≥7.8 h per day in sedentary behaviour had an increased risk of hospital admission due to bronchiectasis exacerbation at 1-year follow-up. Specifically, ≥7.8 h of sedentary behaviour was associated with a 5.9-fold higher risk of hospital admission in the following year.

Conclusions Low levels of PA and high sedentary time at baseline were associated with a risk of hospitalisation due to bronchiectasis exacerbation. If these findings are validated in future studies, it might be appropriate to include PA and sedentary behaviour as an item in severity scores.