Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation for Post-acute COVID-19 Symptoms

Hospital- Versus Home-based Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation for Post-acute COVID-19 Symptoms

The purpose of this RETROSPECTIVE study was to compare the effect of a hospital and home-based cardiopulmonary rehabilitation (CPR) program on exercise endurance and quality of life in post-acute COVID-19 patients.

88 post-acute COVID-19 patients were divided two groups according to receiving hospital (n=45) or home-based CPR (n=43)in our rehabilitation clinic between January and July 2021. Both protocols consisted of aerobic, breathing and flexibility exercises. Hospital-based CPR: three or four days per week for a total of 20 sessions. Home-based CPR: three or four days/a week over a period of six weeks. The results of six meters walk test (6MWT) for exercise endurance as a main outcome measure, and Borg-dyspnea/fatigue, the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) as secondary outcome measures before and after treatment were recorded.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cardiopulmonary
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Exercise programme

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 88
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Odunpazarı
    • Eskişehir, Odunpazarı, Turkey
      • Eskisehir Osmangazi University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• being 18 years or older
• having COVID-19 treatment (home quarantine/hospital/intensive care unit) according to a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in a nasopharyngeal + oropharyngeal swab or chest computed tomography (CT)
• participating in a home-based exercise program (for 6 weeks) or hospital-based CPR (for 12-20 sessions) due to post-acute COVID-19 symptoms (fatigue, myalgia, dyspnea).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who had both a negative PCR test and chest CT
• Patients who had not completed the six minute walk test (6MWT), Borg scales, Short Form-36 and Visual analog scale-pain.
• Acute COVID-19 patients (patients whose symptoms had started less than one month previous)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Home based cardiopulmonary rehabilitation group; This was a retrospective study. 43 patients who had home based cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programme between January and July 2023, in our rehabilitation clinic.	Other: Exercise programme; Both protocols consisted of aerobic, breathing and flexibility exercises. Hospital-based CPR: three or four days per week for a total of 20 sessions. Home-based CPR: three or four days/a week over a period of six weeks.
Experimental: Hospital based cardiopulmonary rehabilitation group; This was a retrospective study. 45 patients who had hospital based cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programme between January and July 2023, in our rehabilitation clinic.	Other: Exercise programme; Both protocols consisted of aerobic, breathing and flexibility exercises. Hospital-based CPR: three or four days per week for a total of 20 sessions. Home-based CPR: three or four days/a week over a period of six weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exercise endurance	Six minutes walk test (All patients walked along a 30-meter-long corridor without obstacles at their normal walking speed, how many meters they walked was noted.)	One day before exercise programme start and one day later exercise programme ends

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Dyspnea	Borg scale were also measured before and after 6MWT for perceived dyspnea (scale range from 0 to 10)	One day before exercise programme start and one day later exercise programme ends
Muscle fatigue	Borg muscle fatigue (scale range from 6 to 20: higher values show more severe symptoms)	One day before exercise programme start and one day later exercise programme ends
short form 36	A quality-of-life assessment was performed using the Short Form-36, which has 36 items regarding physical function, physical role, emotional role, energy, body pain, mental health, general health, and social function. The scale ranges from 0 (poor health) to 100 (perfect health)	One day before exercise programme start and one day later exercise programme ends
Musculoskeletal Pain	Visual analog scale-pain was used to measure general body musculoskeletal pain, which was assessed from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst possible pain)	One day before exercise programme start and one day later exercise programme ends

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Eskisehir City Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Fulya Bakılan, Assoc. Prof., Eskisehir Osmangazi University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 16, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 25, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): July 31, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 24, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 24, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): March 28, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 30, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 28, 2023
• Last Verified: March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: CardioPulmonaryRehab

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No