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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2024 Dec 16;14(1):30511.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82584-4.

Effects of a symptom-titrated exercise program on fatigue and quality of life in people with post-COVID condition - a randomized controlled trial

Andreas Barz #  1 , Joshua Berger #  2 , Marco Speicher  2 , Arne Morsch  2 , Markus Wanjek  2 , Jürgen Rissland  2   3 , Johannes Jäger  4
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of a symptom-titrated exercise program on fatigue and quality of life in people with post-COVID condition - a randomized controlled trial

Andreas Barz et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Fatigue is the most prevalent symptom within the post-COVID condition (PCC). Furthermore, many patients suffer from decreased physical performance capacity and post-exertional malaise. Although exercise has been proposed as an effective therapeutic strategy for PCC, there is limited evidence on individualised and symptom-titrated exercise interventions in patients with fatigue and PEM. Therefore, we conducted a multi-centre randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of an individualised and symptom-titrated exercise program. We measured fatigue, health-related quality of life, hand-grip strength, endurance capacity and PEM before and after the 10-week intervention. A total of 118 individuals with PCC were included in the final intention-to-treat analysis. All tests and training sessions took place in commercial fitness and health facilities. We found significant effects on fatigue severity, health-related quality of life and physical performance capacity. Adjusting the individual exercise load to daily fatigue has proven to be an effective and safe strategy in PCC patients with fatigue. Under the guidance of qualified professionals and by utilising symptom-titrated training recommendations, commercial fitness and health facilities present an appropriate setting for outpatient exercise rehabilitation in PCC.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Exercise; Long COVID; PCC; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the ethics committee of the Medical Association responsible (identification number 07/23) and was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki46. It was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (ID: DRKS00031634) a priori. All participants gave written informed consent before participating in the study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Examination procedure.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Intervention procedure.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Flow of participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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