Around 90 people affected by persistent COVID-19 will participate for three months in weekly face-to-face physical exercise sessions led by personal trainers. This is part of a biomedical research project held by the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) in collaboration with the foundation Fundación Siel Bleu
Improving the quality of life of patients with pulmonary sequelae provoked by a severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is the main goal of the Adapted Physical Exercise Programme, which is promoted by the Post-Covid Multidisciplinary Unit and the Functional Unit of Pulmonary Interstitium of the HUB. Patients who required admission to the HUB due to severe pneumonia secondary to SARS-CoV-2 infection, suffering persistent respiratory symptoms for weeks or months after the infection, and who are proactively followed by the team, will participate in the programme.
The secondary goals of an individualised training plan with face-to-face sessions of 60 minutes/week during 12 weeks are to determine whether adapted physical activity improves exercise capacity and respiratory function, as well as myopathy in patients who required prolonged admission to the ICU. This plan will include respiratory exercises, strength and balance exercises, flexibility, joint mobility and aerobic exercises (walking, choreography...).
First steps of an innovative programme
The Adapted Physical Exercise Programme was launched this March with an informative session and opening interviews, in which the participants’ previous health shape and clinical history is evaluated in order to adjust the training plan.
Two groups of patients will be established: an intervention group and a control group. The latter will not take part in the programme until three months after the start of the first group's training. Both before and after the programme, functional respiratory tests, gait tests and quality of life tests will be carried out on all participants. The gathered data will be analysed and the results are expected to be published in an indexed journal in 2023.
The programme sessions will be led by personal trainers from the Foundation Fundación Siel Bleu, the non-profit organisation cooperating with the HUB in this project to promote the benefits of physical activity as a means of improving quality of life. The association has previously collaborated with the HUB's Functional Interstitial Pulmonary Unit (UFIP) on a programme of adapted physical exercise for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
“We believe that exercise can play a key role in improving the quality of life of patients with post-COVID lung damage. Now, we also want to assess whether it also improves exercise capability, lung function, as well as the emotional well-being of affected patients”, explains Dr Vanesa Vicens-Zygmunt, pulmonologist of the Functional Unit of Pulmonary Interstitium, co-coordinator of the Post-COVID Multidisciplinary Unit of the Bellvitge University Hospital and head of the Adapted Physical Exercise Programme.
The Adapted Physical Exercise Programme also relies on the work of Dr Rosa Planas, head of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service and her team; Chus González, nurse from the Post-COVID multidisciplinary unit; Dr Jaume Bordas, Dr Bermudo and Dr Molina, pulmonologists who have visited the participating patients.
A pioneering Post-COVID Unit in Spain
The Post-COVID Unit at the Bellvitge University Hospital was set up quickly at a very early stage of the pandemic, in May 2020. The aim was to provide an adequate and coordinated healthcare response to the avalanche of patients with persistent respiratory symptoms after the first wave, which overwhelmed health services even more.
Between 2020 and 2021, this multidisciplinary unit of the HUB has added almost 3,000 visits related to persistent COVID symptoms.
In parallel, the team has launched some lines of research in collaboration with primary care medicine among different specialties, besides participating in European projects.