Exercise-based rehabilitation has been found to improve the short-term exercise capacity of 181 people with post-COVID syndrome (who had been hospitalised with COVID).
The study, published in the European Respiratory Journal on 26 February also discovered significant immune benefits of face-to-face rehabilitation.
In the trial, researchers funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) compared two exercise-based rehabilitation interventions. The eight week program of individually prescribed exercise and education were either face-to-face or remote (delivered through a website).
Dr Enya Daynes, Senior Specialist Physiotherapist at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust who led the research, said: “Long-COVID remains a significant health burden on the population. People experiencing post-COVID syndrome (or long-COVID) experience a myriad of symptoms which significantly impact on their day to day lives.
“We wanted to look at whether exercise-based rehabilitation interventions, either face-to-face or remote, compared to the usual care patients with long-COVID receive would bring relieve symptoms, improve quality of life, and measurements of immunity.”
Both programmes consisted of individually prescribed and tailored exercise, education,
self-management strategies and symptom advice, delivered either through twice weekly face-to-face sessions (90-120mins) or facilitated through a website.
The programme was delivered by a team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists and support assistants at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with Northumbria University.
This was supplemented by a home exercise programme, and asking patients to record their activities and symptoms.
One hundred and eighty one participants took part. Patients’ exercise capability (measured through a walking test), health related quality of life and measures of their immune response were compared before and after the intervention.
Dr Enya Daynes continued: “We were pleased to see some benefits from the exercise rehabilitation programme.
“We observed a significant improvement in the walking distance of patients who had been part of the face-to-face and remote rehabilitation compared to those who received usual care alone.
“And, an analysis of immune markers also revealed significant increases in cells that support our immunity against future infection in those who received face-to-face rehabilitation.
“These results provide more evidence that structured and well-supported exercise-based rehabilitation can be beneficial for people experiencing post-COVID syndrome. We continue to offer this programme within Leicestershire and are also working to support the development of new treatments that can offer benefits to those with ongoing symptoms following COVID-19.”
For the full paper please visit click here.
The PHOS-R study was carried out as part of the Leicester-led PHOSP-COVID study.
PHOSP-COVID is a consortium of scientists from across the UK, researching long-term health outcomes for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. The study was funded by MQ Mental Health Research and the Wolfson Foundation, and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centres in Leicester and Oxford Health.
For more on PHOSP-COVID please visit www.phosp.org.