Exercise Intervention Using mHealth in Patients With Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome: a Randomized Clinical Trial (COVIDReApp)

February 10, 2023 updated by: Jose A. Moral-Munoz, University of Cadiz

Efficacy of Exercise-based mHealth Intervention for Patients With Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome Based on Fatigue, Fitness, Post-exertional Dyspnea, Pain, Anxiety, Depression, Cognitive Function, and Quality of Life: a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Post-Acute Syndrome COVID-19 is a disease resulting from infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is estimated that between 10 and 35% of infected persons suffer symptoms afterwards, and in hospitalized patients it can reach 85%. These sequelae have individual, social and economic repercussions, so effective rehabilitation alternatives are necessary. Physical exercise is recommended as rehabilitation for these patients. Moreover, the implementation of m-Health supported interventions is a proven alternative in patients with Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome or other conditions, which improves therapeutic adherence and patient autonomy. Therefore, the development and evaluation of the effectiveness of an exercise-based m-Health system for application in patients with Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome responds to a need.

Our hypothesis is that a mobile health technology based on physical exercise recommendations for patients with Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome will improve fatigue, physical fitness, post-exertional dyspnea, pain intensity, anxiety, depression, cognitive function, and quality of life. Therefore, this project aims to evaluate the efficacy of the mobile health technology system (COVIDReApp) based on physical exercise recommendations for patients with COVID-19 Post-Acute Syndrome based on its results on fatigue, physical condition, post-exertional dyspnea, pain intensity, anxiety and depression, cognitive function and quality of life.

The achievement of the present project will serve to analyze the benefits of a physical exercise program in patients with COVID-19 Post-Acute Syndrome and identify those patients in whom the benefits will be greatest and whose implementation will have the highest priority.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

      • Cadiz, Spain, 1009
        • Recruiting
        • Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar
        • Contact:
          • María José Soto Cárdenas, PhD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Eligible participants will be patients who have had COVID-19 at any time since the onset of the pandemic and even have Acute Post-CoVID-19 Syndrome, identified by their physicians and recruited from routine outpatient appointments at the Post-CoVID-19 Service of the Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Cadiz, Spain.

Their physicians will give them an appointment for a future session in which potential participants will be provided with patient information and the consent form, and will be contacted approximately 48 hours later to discuss their willingness to participate.

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male and female patients.
  • Over 18 years of age.
  • Absence of cognitive and physical deficits that would preclude physical exercise.
  • Owner of a smartphone with Internet access.
  • Ability to understand and write in Spanish.

Exclusion criteria:

  • Concomitant diseases that prevent physical exercise.
  • Contraindications to physical exercise detected by physicians.
  • Participation in moderate-intensity activities (more than 30 minutes and 3 times per week) at the time of study initiation.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: SINGLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: COVIDReApp Group
The intervention group will complete a program of exercise guided by a m-health system (COVIDReApp) for 24 weeks.

The COVIDReApp group will be required to complete an exercise program guided by an m-health system for three times per week during 24 weeks. A 60-minute program, following the recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine. The daily session will be divided into:

  • Warm-up: 5 min. walking so that the patient can hold a conversation , monopodial balance exercise, core exercise and other respiratory and joint mobility exercises.
  • Aerobic training: Walking for 10 to 20 min. so that the patient can maintain a conversation, but having to stop to breathe from time to time.
  • Strengthening: It will focus on 7 exercises. a) squats, b) dead weight with stiff legs, c) lateral pull-ups, d) inverted flies, e) flies, f) unilateral rowing and g) lateral raises.
  • Cool down: It will consist of stretching exercises. a) shoulders, b) triceps, c) chest, d) quadriceps, e) hamstrings, and f) back.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Control Group
The comparator group will complete a program of exercise in a traditional way (exercises will be provided in paper format) for 24 weeks.
Participants will receive the same intervention in the traditional way, they will receive the exercise program in paper format. They will receive a document with photos and descriptions of the exercises to be performed. Their doctors will determine if the patients will be able to exercise regularly and they will perform them for 24 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS))
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
The FSS consists of 9 items related to the interference of fatigue with specific activities and rates the perceived severity of fatigue on a 7-point scale (1 = "strongly disagree"; 7 = "strongly agree").
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Post-exertional dyspnoea (Dyspnoea-12)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Post-exertional dyspnea is assessed using the Dyspnea-12, a short questionnaire that takes into account both sensory and affective factors that may play a role in dyspnea. Each item in the questionnaire is scored from 0, if the symptom is mild, to 3, if it is severe, and the total score is the sum of the scores for all items. Six of the questions relate to sensory aspects and 6 to affective aspects of dyspnea. The total score ranges from 0 to 36, with 36 being the highest possible severity and 0 being the lowest.
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Quality of life (SF-12v2)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
The Short Form-12 (SF-12v2) will be administered to assess quality of life. This instrument contains 12 items that allow us to calculate the profile of 8 dimensions: (physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health perception, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional, and mental health) and two global scores: the physical health (PCS-12) and the mental health (MCS-12) component summary. Each global score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health.
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Pain intensity (Visual Analog Scale (VAS))
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
VAS is a scale used to rate the patient's pain intensity. The patient chooses a number from 0 to 10 (11-point numeric scale) that represents the best level of pain that the patient can imagine. A score of 0 represents no pain and 10 represents the worst pain imaginable.
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Upper limb strength (Arm curl test)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
The Arm Curl Test assesses upper body strength by determining the number of times a hand weight (2.3 kg) can be curled through a full range of motion in 30 seconds.
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Lower limb strength (Chair stand test)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
The chair stand test evaluates lower body muscular strength by counting the number of times a person can go from a sitting position to a standing position in 30 seconds.
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Functional capacity and endurance (Two-minute walk test (2MWT))
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
The two-minute walk test (2MWT) assesses walking ability, functional endurance and functional capacity. It consists of measuring the distance the patient can walk for 2 minutes as fast as he or she can safely without assistance.
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Depression and/or anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADs)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Depression and anxiety are assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), which consists of 14 items divided into two subscales: anxiety (HADS-A) and depression (HADS-D).
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Cognitive function (Test Your Memory (TYM))
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
The Test Your Memory (TYM) screening test is used to assess cognitive function. This tool consists of 10 items with a total score ranging from 0 to 50, calculated on 10 cognitive dimensions: executive function, anterograde memory, visuospatial ability, naming, similarities, verbal fluency, calculation, retrograde memory, copying, orientation. The cut-off point is 42/50 (≤41 points indicates cognitive dysfunction) and a higher score indicates better cognitive performance.
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Longitudinal Change from Baseline up to 24 Weeks Follow-up in Height, weight, and body mass index
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Body measurements: height (standard height meter), weight, and body mass index (Tanita Model TBF-310 GS Weight Scale, Tanita Corporation of America, Inc., Arlington Heights, IL).
Baseline, 4 weeks post-treatment, 12 weeks post-treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment.
Baseline of sociodemographic variables
Time Frame: Baseline.
A structured questionnaire will be used to collect sociodemographic data, including the following variables: gender, age, socioeconomic status, marital status, education level, employment status, clinical data, and use of alternative therapies.
Baseline.
Daily registry of the exercise difficulty (Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE))
Time Frame: Only CovidReApp group: Daily.
CovidReApp system will register the daily exercise, which allows us to know the exercise difficulty of each exercise.
Only CovidReApp group: Daily.
Daily registry of the adherence (CovidReApp log registration and self-reported)
Time Frame: Daily.
The information is collected by the system only in the COVIDReApp group.
Daily.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ANTICIPATED)

March 15, 2023

Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED)

March 15, 2024

Study Completion (ANTICIPATED)

September 15, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 7, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 10, 2023

First Posted (ACTUAL)

February 13, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

February 13, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 10, 2023

Last Verified

February 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual data will not be shared with third parties.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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