Recovering From COVID-19 Lingering Symptoms Adaptive Integrative Medicine Trial - Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for the Treatment of Post COVID Condition (RECLAIM-HBOT)

RECLAIM: Recovering From COVID-19 Lingering Symptoms Adaptive Integrative Medicine Trial - Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for the Treatment of Post COVID Condition (RECLAIM-HBOT)

The RECLAIM study platform will be used to explore whether the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy (HBOT) improves the symptoms of post covid cognitive dysfunction.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a well-established medical treatment. HBOT promotes healing by delivering a high concentration of oxygen into the body. This high level of oxygen has a number of known benefits, such as growth of new blood vessels, as well as regulating immune and inflammation responses. It helps protect the brain and other nervous tissue from inflammation. HBOT may also have antiviral effects.

Collectively, it has the potential to target the underlying mechanisms believed to play a critical role in the development of Long COVID.

Many individuals with Long COVID complain of fatigue, brain fog, muscle aches and other symptoms. There is evidence to suggest that these symptoms may be a problem with the blood vessels, resulting in abnormal delivery of oxygen to tissues. Thus, our group is investigating whether HBOT improves post-COVID cognitive dysfunction.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Long COVID; Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19; Post-COVID-19 Condition
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy

Detailed Description

This is a Sub-Protocol to the Core Clinical Study Protocol titled: REcovering from COVID19 Lingering symptoms Adaptive Integrative Medicine (RECLAIM),

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Andrew Janes, MSc; Email: andrew.janes@uhn.ca
• Study Contact Backup: Name: RECLAIM CONTACT RECLAIM contact line; Phone Number: 1-866-673-2524; Email: reclaim@uhn.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2C4
      • Recruiting
      • University Health Network
      • Principal Investigator: Angela M Cheung, MD, PhD, CCD
      • Contact: Doris Liu-Yee, RN; Email: Doris.Lui-Yee@uhn.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age ≥18 years;
2. Positive COVID-19 test by nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test, antibody or antigen tests at least 3 months prior to randomization; OR Presumed COVID-19 assessed by the site investigator (no positive COVID-19 test) with acute illness after October 15, 2019.
3. Patients should be treated with standard of care therapies (as discussed in the study manual) for at least 4 weeks prior to entry into trial.
4. Lingering COVID-19 symptoms beyond 3 months from onset of acute COVID and symptoms have lasted at least 2 months. The onset of COVID is considered the earliest of two dates: the date of positive test or the date of first symptoms;
5. Lingering symptoms from COVID-19 present at the time of randomization. "Lingering symptoms of Long COVID" must include self-reported cognitive dysfunction symptoms.
6. Female patients of childbearing potential (as assessed by the overseeing Investigator) who are sexually active must agree to practice true abstinence or use effective methods of contraception while on study treatment. Effective methods of contraception must be discussed and approved by the overseeing Investigator.
7. Must be able to provide informed consent and both willing and able to comply with study requirements.
8. A confirmed ability to travel to one of the three sites where HBOT or sham can be administered.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who had mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygen (ECMO) for COVID-19;
2. Current end-organ failure, organ transplantation, or current hospitalization in acute care hospital;
3. Contraindications to all of the study interventions;
4. Co-enrolment in another interventional trial (co-enrolment in an observational study is permitted);
5. Currently pregnant or breastfeeding.
6. Pneumothorax
7. Poorly controlled seizure disorder
8. Chronic sinusitis
9. Chronic or acute otitis media
10. Major ear drum trauma.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy; HBOT GROUP will have HBOT with 100% oxygen for 90 min, once daily, five times a week for 8 consecutive weeks. This will be given at a slightly higher pressure than normal air pressure (2 times regular air pressure)	Device: Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy; The SECHRIST INDUSTRIES mono-place Hyperbaric Chambers OR Sigma Series mono-place Hyperbaric Chambers
Sham Comparator: Hyperbaric oxygen sham; CONTROL GROUP will have sham treatment, which will look and feel like HBOT, but will not have high enough oxygen concentration for any therapeutic or health benefit. Sham treatment with 21% oxygen (the amount of oxygen normally present in the air) for 90 min, once daily, five times a week for 8 consecutive weeks. This will be given at standard atmospheric pressure (1.03 ATA). The air pressure will vary slightly to mimic the feeling of HBOT.	Device: Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy; The SECHRIST INDUSTRIES mono-place Hyperbaric Chambers OR Sigma Series mono-place Hyperbaric Chambers

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Simple reaction time [SRT] task from the TestMyBrain (TMB) Digital Neuropsychology Toolkit	On-line survey tool	Baseline/Start of intervention to two months
Verbal paired associates [VPA] task from the TestMyBrain (TMB) Digital Neuropsychology Toolkit	On-line survey tool	Baseline/Start of intervention to two months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Symptoms scale	Three point Likert scale assessing how bothersome symptoms are on a weekly basis for two months then monthly until end of study, as reported by the participant: to provide a granular, detailed picture of the symptom trajectory.	Baseline/start of intervention weekly to 2 months, then once monthly to 6 months.
Symptom Checklist	Symptom Checklist (adapted from the De Paul Symptom Questionnaire (DSQ2), the World Health Organization Global COVID-19 Clinical Platform's Post COVID-19 CRF and the Symptom Burden Questionnaire for Long COVID): to track symptom trajectory.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Six Minute Walking Test (6MWT) with oximetry	Subjects walk as far as they can in six minutes while receiving maximum encouragement. It is simple to execute, inexpensive, standardized and gives a tangible measure of functional exercise capacity. It has been validated in many different populations. The 6MWT will be conducted according to American Thoracic Society standards.	Baseline/start of intervention and 2 months.
SF-36	The self-administered SF-36 evaluates eight health concepts: physical functioning, role functioning-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role functioning-emotional, and mental health. Previous studies have used this instrument in many different populations and it takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
TestMyBrain cognitive testing	TestMyBrain was developed as a tool to collect large, population-based samples for understanding the relationship between cognition, emotion, social functioning, and health. This test battery includes: TMB Verbal Paired Associates (Concrete), TMB Digit Span - Backward, TMB Digit Span - Forward, TMB Choice Reaction Time, TMB Simple Reaction Time, TMB Gradual Onset Continuous Performance Task. The test battery will take about 20 minutes to complete and will assess: verbal, episodic and working memory, attention, processing speed, basic psychomotor response speed, and cognitive control.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Post COVID19 functional status scale	The post-COVID-19 functional status (PCFS) scale focuses on relevant aspects of daily life during follow-up after the infection. The scale is intended to help users become aware of current functional limitations in COVID-19 patients, whether or not as a result of the specific infection, and to objectively determine this degree of disability. The scale is ordinal, has 6 steps ranging from 0 (no symptoms) to 5 (death), and covers the entire range of functional outcomes by focusing on limitations in usual duties/activities either at home or at work/study, as well as changes in lifestyle. The PCFS demonstrates good construct validity.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Reintegration to Normal Living Index (RNLI)	This short self-administered assessment tool will determine the degree to which participants reintegrate into normal social activities such as recreation, mobility in the community and interaction in family and other relationships. This tool has been validated in community living adults with mobility limitations.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
The Fatigue Scale	The Fatigue Scale was adapted from the De Paul Symptom Questionnaire (DSQ2)'s 38 questions assessing medical history of Myalgic Encephalitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), comorbidities, medications, impact on quality of life and daily activities, etc.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Brief Fatigue inventory	The self-administered Brief Fatigue Inventory is composed of 9 items evaluated on a 10-point scale, assessing severity of fatigue and impact of fatigue on daily life. It takes approximately 2-3 minutes to complete.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Post-Exertional Malaise	The self-administered DPEMQ is comprised of three sections assessing post-exertional malaise (PEM): (i) onset and triggers of PEM (9 questions), (ii) consequences and symptoms (14 questions), (iii) duration, recovery and pacing (7 questions).	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Mental Health - General Anxiety Assessment Form (GAD-7)	The GAD-7 is a valid and efficient tool for screening for generalized anxiety disorder and assessing its severity in clinical practice and research. It is an easy-to-use, self-administered patient questionnaire that can be completed in minutes.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Mental Health - Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)	The PHQ-9 is a validated, multipurpose instrument for screening, diagnosing, monitoring and measuring the severity of depression. It incorporates Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 1V (DSM-IV) depression diagnostic criteria with other leading major depressive symptoms into a brief self-report tool. The PHQ-9 is brief and useful in clinical practice.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Dyspnea	Assessed using the Borg Dyspnea scale. This short assessment tool assesses perceived shortness of breath on exertion using a 10 point scale as assessed by the patient.	Baseline/start of intervention to 1, 2 months 3 and 6 months
Blood samples	Blood samples will be used in correlative studies using advanced multi-omic and machine learning techniques to better understand our results so as to identify phenotypes that will benefit from specific therapies	Baseline/start of intervention and 2 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Health Network, Toronto
• Investigators: Study Director: Angela M Cheung, MD, PhD, University Health Network, Toronto; Principal Investigator: Rita Katznelson, MD, University Health Network, Toronto

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 7, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 7, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 11, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 23, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 19, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Post-Infectious Disorders; COVID-19; Pathologic Processes; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Therapeutics; Respiratory Therapy; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy; Hyperbaric Oxygenation
• Other Study ID Numbers: 21-6203-HBOT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No