Tele-Rehabilitative Exercise Training Program in Nurses With Long COVID

NCT06840873 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: c202305117
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 68
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Long COVID can cause a decline in cardiorespiratory fitness, resulting in fatigue and negative impacts on individuals' quality of life (QoL), particularly in nurses who play a crucial role in public health. Combining with reduced cardiorespiratory fitness and suffering from a spectrum of long-COVID symptoms might substantially exaggertate fatigue, perceived stress, and reduce willingness to work for hospital nurses. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of tele-rehabilitative exercise on fatigue, perceived stress, symptom severity of long COVID, and QoL in this population.

Conditions

Cardiorespiratory Fitness; Exercise; Long COVID; Nurses; Quality of Life (QOL); Fatigue; Stress; Tele-rehabilitation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (7)

• Fatigue (score)

  The Chinese version of the Fatigue Severity Scale (CFSS) (Wang et al., 2016) assesses the severity of fatigue in the participants. The scale is a self-administered questionnaire. The scale evaluates the severity of fatigue symptoms and their impact on daily activities over the past two weeks. It consists of 9 items, rated on a 7-point scale, with scores ranging from 1 to 7, where 1 indicates strong disagreement and 7 indicates strong agreement. The minimum score is 9, and the maximum score is 63. Higher scores indicate more severe fatigue, with a total score of 36 (inclusive) or higher indicating severe fatigue.

  10 minutes

• O2 pulse in ml/beat

  It means the heart pumps O2 volume by each heart beat, and also means left ventricle function.

  30 minutes

• Aerobic capacity (VO2 max in ml/kg/min )

  Maximal VO2 during testing, also means aerobic capacity

  30 minutes

• Working load in watt

  Maximal Working load during testing

  30 minutes

• Heart rate recovery in beat/min

  Heart rate recovery is measured by recording your heart rate immediately after stopping exercise, and then at intervals (e.g., 1 minute and 2 minutes) after the exercise ends, which reflects autonomic nervous system function.

  30 minutes

• Anaerobic threshold (AT in ml/kg/min)

  The point during exercise at which lactate (a byproduct of anaerobic metabolism) starts to accumulate in the blood faster than it can be removed. This indicates a shift from primarily aerobic energy production to more anaerobic energy production.

  30 minutes

• Severity of long COVID symptoms (scores)

  This study uses the Chinese version of the Post-COVID-19 Functional Status Scale (PCFS) translated by Liao and Cheng (2023), which was originally developed by Frederikus A. Klok. It assesses changes in daily living, work and study activities, social activities, and overall functional status over the past week (Klok et al., 2020). The scale consists of two parts: the functional status scale and the symptom checklist. The first part, the functional status scale, is divided into five levels from 0 to 4. The second part, the post-infection symptom checklist, checks for specific symptoms that appear after COVID-19 infection. It is divided into five levels. This checklist evaluates respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, psychological, and musculoskeletal symptoms.

  10 minutes

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Quality of life (scores)

  baseline, 4, and 8 weeks

• Perceived stress (scores)

  baseline, 4, and 8 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Health consultation

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

The participants with healthy consultation do aerobic training at home

Behavioral: Healthy consulation

wearable device

EXPERIMENTAL

The participants with wearable device do exercise training at home

Device: wearable device

Interventions

wearable device DEVICE

Participants wore a knee brace with a sensor module on one side of the leg, the sensor could connect with the KNEESUP care APP which were installed in participant's mobile phone. The APP was designed with an individualized exercise program and the knee brace sensor could detect the action moment of the participants during exercise. This equipment could help the participants to achieve professional-level home rehabilitation, including 3 aerobic and 2 strengthening exercise sessions per week at a moderate intensity, 30 min/session.

wearable device

Healthy consulation BEHAVIORAL

Participants received routine outpatient health education.

Health consultation

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 20 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• nurses older than 20 years of age
• have reported a positive result on a COVID-19 rapid test or nucleic acid test
• one or more of the following symptoms for more than four weeks: fatigue, discomfort after physical or mental exertion, fever, cardiopulmonary symptoms such as difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, or palpitations (CDC, 2022)
• able to perform activities independently without assistance
• total score of 36 or higher on the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), confirming fatigue symptoms, and report that these symptoms either appeared after the infection or worsened following the infection

You may not qualify if:

• without the equipment to install a mobile application (APP)
• unsuitable for wearing devices due to any leg diseases
• unable to engage in aerobic or strength training due to neurological or musculoskeletal disorders
• pregnancy
• cancer
• absolute and relative contraindications for cardiopulmonary testing or exercise training
• unsuitable for participation in this study by a rehabilitation specialist;
• regular exercisers

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Shang-Lin Chiang: lead

Study Sites (1)

Tri-service General Hospital

Tiapei, 114, Taiwan

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Fatigue

Interventions

Wearable Electronic Devices

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior; COVID-19; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; Virus Diseases; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Post-Infectious Disorders; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Electrical Equipment and Supplies; Equipment and Supplies

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Attending physician

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 18, 2025
• First Posted: February 21, 2025
• Study Start: November 2, 2023
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2024
• Study Completion: November 1, 2024
• Last Updated: October 7, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TW (1)