Clinical trial NCT04900961: CISCO-21 Prevent and Treat Long COVID-19.
Official title: Prevention and Early Treatment of the Long-term Physical Effects of Coronarvirus-19 (COVID-19): a Randomised Clinical Trial of Resistance Exercise.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Covid19
Keywords: COVID-19
Clinical trial
Graded resistance exercise
Personalised medicine
Post-COVID-19 syndrome
Long COVID
Lead sponsor: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Glasgow
name: Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government
First posted: 2021-05-25
Enrollment: 233
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Many people have long-lasting symptoms after COVID-19, such as breathlessness, fatigue and chest pain. So far, research studies of treatments for COVID-19 have focused on the life-threatening acute illness; few studies look at treatments to improve long-term health after COVID-19. COVID-19, particularly when this requires a hospital admission, can lead to weight loss and muscle wasting, contributing to worse outcomes. Muscle strengthening (resistance-based) exercise could improve outcomes in the long-term.

Detailed description: The rationale for our study has two main parts. The first (primary) addresses a gap in therapy, notably, for a non-pharmacological intervention. To address this gap, the investigators have set out to develop a lifestyle intervention that may be helpful to patients with persisting symptoms in the recovery (or convalescence) phase after COVID-19. Specifically, the investigators will train participants to undertake a pragmatic resistance-based exercise intervention that they can learn and apply according to their circumstances in-hospital or in the community. The rationale is predicated on providing patients with a personalised therapy option and empowering them in the self-management of their recovery following illness due to COVID-19 infection.

The second area of need is the general lack of evidence-based medicines for patients who have persisting symptoms after COVID-19. To address this gap, there is a need for rapid trials to evaluate multiple therapeutic candidates to urgently provide doctors (and their patients) with clinical evidence to inform treatment decisions. To address this gap, the investigatorsaim to create a platform for rapid trials of new treatments after COVID-19. The investigators wish to seize the opportunity afforded by this trial to set-up a transferable framework for future trials in COVID-19. The rationale is to provide a low-cost trials resource to facilitate the rapid set-up and cost-efficient delivery of multiple other trials. This will be a parallel work strand during the trial. The investigators will develop a Working Group of stakeholders from across the National Health Service (NHS) and Universities in Scotland and our COVID-19 patient and public invovlement (PPI) group (which includes co-applicants and collaborators). Key considerations include repurposing novel therapy, potential for efficacy, safety, endpoint, sample size, feasibility interim analyses, power, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and costs. As part of the plan of work in application (Aim 3), the researchers and PPI Group will scope these potential interventions within the context of a platform trial with a view to identifying candidates to follow-on after the exercise intervention trial. This will cut the costs of doing future trials and allow more patients the opportunity to contribute to medical research that will improve outcomes for people recovering from COVID-19.

Our team is multidisciplinary, multi-ethnic, gender-balanced and drawn from across NHS Scotland, and the University of Glasgow. The investigators are leading the CISCO-19 study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04403607), funded by the Chief Scientist Office (CSO), in the West of Scotland, using medical imaging of the hearts, lungs, and kidneys of patients, to understand the impact of COVID-19. The investigators have consulted with members of the public, including people with COVID-19, in designing this study.

The investigators will also undertake exploratory research into the vascular biology of COVID-19 infection. This work will be undertaken in collaboration with scientists in the University of Glasgow, including the British Heart Foundation Centre for Research Excellence and the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Virus Research. A blood sample at 3 months will be collected and stored in the NHS Biorepository.

In order to assess the natural history, longer-term follow-up for health outcomes will be undertaken using electronic record linkage to patient records omitting the need for participants to undergo further research visits after the end of the trial. If after initial analysis longer term, follow up via national records is felt to be worthwhile additional funding will be sought for this.

Alignment with other national / international initiatives Our proposal will link with other prioritised studies in the United Kingdom. In general, co-enrolment would be desirable to synergise the studies. Our study will bring in new resource to enhance enrolment into existing studies, specifically, by engaging more sites, and more research staff.

Eligibility criteria: Patients will be classified according by clinical presentation:

A) Non-hospitalised - Positive diagnosis with persisting symptoms for at least 4 weeks from symptoms onset leading to medical review (A\&E, Community COVID Hub) but not admission (Treatment group), B) Hospitalised, positive diagnosis, and with post-discharge, persistent symptoms for at least 4 weeks from symptoms onset (Treatment group), C) Hospitalised, positive diagnosis, and in convalescent phase in-hospital (Prevention group).

Groups A \& B = target population for treatment of persisting symptoms post-COVID i.e. Long-COVID; Group C = Target population for prevention of Long COVID.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Virology PCR positive laboratory diagnosis and/or point of care test positive for COVID-and/or
2. Positive Lateral Flow Test (confirmation from notes or by participant) and/or
3. Positive COVID antibody test
4. Persistent symptoms for at least 4 weeks from symptoms onset (Groups A \& B only)
5. Presentation type - one of group A, B or C.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Physiotherapy as part of standard care e.g. post intensive care unit (ICU), post high dependency unit (HDU),
2. No expectation of being able to walk within 3 months
3. Unable to provide informed consent,
4. Unable to comply with the protocol.
5. Known pregnancy

Primary outcomes:
measure: Incremental Shuttle Walk Test
timeFrame: at 3 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Spirometry
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: Handgrip Strength
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: Short Physical Performance Battery
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: EuroQol-5 dimension (EQ)-5D
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ4)
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ)
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: Duke Activity Status Index (DASI)
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: International Physical Activity Questionnaires Short Form (IPAQ-SF)
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: Fatigue questionnaire
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: Fried Frailty phenotype
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Episodes of care
timeFrame: at 3 months
measure: Hospitalisation
timeFrame: at 3 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Glasgow
country: United Kingdom
facility: Queen Elizabeth University Hospital
city: Glasgow
country: United Kingdom
facility: Royal Infirmary
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Glasgow
name: Colin Berry, BSc MBChB PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
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