Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation in Long COVID-19 Patients With Persistent Breathlessness and Fatigue
Condition: COVID-19 Respiratory Infection
MeSH terms: COVID-19; Respiratory Tract Infections; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Dyspnea
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The objective of this project is to assess the effects of a 2-month cardiopulmonary
      rehabilitation program on cardiorespiratory fitness in long COVID19 patients. Quality of
      life, functional capacity, functional respiratory capacity, inflammatory profile, coagulation
      markers, cognitive functions and brain O2 saturation will also be assessed before and after
      the exercise rehabilitation program.
    

Detailed description: 
      Some symptoms such as breathlessness and fatigue appear to persist for several months after
      COVID-19 infection in about 50% of cases. Stress, anxiety, neurological and cognitive
      disorders have also been reported in the long-term side effects associated with the disease.
      Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programs are recognized as an essential component of the
      management of people with chronic respiratory disease. These programs are based on exercise
      training with aerobic exercises, muscle strengthening, breathing exercises. Beyond the
      benefit on morbi-mortality, a marked improvement in symptoms, fitness and quality of life is
      observed in chronic respiratory diseases. Several hospital departments, research teams and
      scientific organizations as the WHO recommend the use of rehabilitation programs for COVID-19
      patients.

      The main objective is to assess the effects of a 2-month cardiopulmonary rehabilitation
      program on cardiorespiratory fitness in long COVID19 patients. Secondary objectives include:
      to characterize baseline and intervention-related changes in quality of life, functional
      capacity, functional respiratory capacity, inflammatory profile, coagulation markers,
      cognitive functions, neurovascular coupling and cortical pulsatility.

      All participants will have signed a written consent form before taking part in the study.

      40 patients who have had COVID-19 with persistent breathlessness and fatigue symptoms after
      at least 3 months after the diagnosis will be randomly assigned to one of the 2 following
      study arms : 1/ cardiopulmonary exercise training program; 2/ control group.
    

Intervention name(s): Cardiopulmonary exercise training
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Participants will follow a 2-month exercise training program, thrice-weekly trainings. The training sessions will start with a 5-min warmup, followed by an aerobic training (20 min) after which 20-min of resistance/muscular training will take place. The program will end with respiratory exercises and cool down period (10 min). Training will be adapted to individuals' baseline capacity as measured by the baseline cardiorespiratory test.
A certified kinesiologist will supervise trainings. Heart rate, oxygen saturation and rating of perceived exertion (Borg Scale, 6-20) will be measured during training sessions.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: parallel assignement with 2 groups (1:1)
Masking: Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: COVID-19; cardiorespiratory; fitness; cognition; neurovascular coupling; brain functions; physical exercise; rehabilitation; inflammatory markers; long COVID-19; cortical pulsatility