Effectiveness Of An Exercise Training Program On Post-covid-19 Patients

PURPOSE: To examine the effect of a nine-week exercise program combined with the pulmonary rehabilitation on post-COVID-19 patients. METHODS: Sixteen participants (10 men and 6 women) who were post-COVID-19 patients (age = 51.8 ± 11 years, body fat = 36.4 ± 9.3%, VO2peak = 17.2 ± 4.0 ml/kg/min) underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and a 6-minute walking test (6MWT) at baseline (pre) and after a nine-week exercise training program and pulmonary rehabilitation. The variables of interest were peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), peak oxygen pulse (O2pulsepeak), walking distance (WD) and walking speed (WS). Paired t-tests were used to compared variables of interest, and Pearson correlation coefficients were also calculated. Statistical significance was set a priori at (p < .05). RESULTS: Patients improved VO2peak by 19.2% from (17.2 ± 4.0 to 20.5 ± 3.6 ml/kg/min, p < 0.001) and O2pulsepeak by 15.4% from (11.0 ± 2.1 to 12.7 ± 2.8 ml/kg/min, p = 0.002). The improvement in VO2peak was inversely related to initial VO2peak (r = -0.633, p = 0.009). The 6MWT improved by 27.1% from (476 ± 79 to 605 ± 48 m, p < 0.001), and walking speed by 31% from (2.9 ± 0.5 to 3.8 ± 0.3 mph, p < 0.001). The change in the 6MWT was inversely related to initial walk distance (r = -0.831, p < 0.001), and the change in VO2peak was positively related to the change in the 6MWT (r = 0.598, p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: The exercise training program combined with the pulmonary rehabilitation was effective in improving cardiorespiratory fitness and walking speed on post-COVID-19 patients. There is a significant relationship between the improvement in fitness and walking ability.