Effectiveness & Acceptability of Rehab for Non-hospitalised Long Covid
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mixed methods study to explore the effectiveness and acceptability of face-to-face exercise-based rehabilitation for patients with Long Covid who were not hospitalised with their acute infection.
IRAS ID
338393
Contact name
Linzy Houchen-Wolloff
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospitals of Leicester
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN33340595
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Whilst most people recover from acute Covid-19 within a few weeks, a significant proportion still have symptoms beyond 3 months. When this cannot be explained by any other medical diagnosis, a clinical diagnosis of Long Covid is made.
Patients with Long Covid present with a range of symptoms that include fatigue, shortness of breath, headache, cognitive dysfunction (‘brain fog’), chest pain, muscle and joint pains, cough, disturbed sleep, and psychological symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. These symptoms are often unpredictable and concurrent, which can significantly impact everyday functioning and work.
The nature of the illness, and the rising number of people struggling with it, suggests that Long Covid is a significant public health problem. There is a limited evidence-base to inform which treatments may be effective, however early evidence on exercise-based rehabilitation has demonstrated positive effects in improving exercise tolerance, respiratory symptoms, fatigue, and cognition.
The aim of this study is to determine whether face-to-face exercise-based rehabilitation (“the intervention”) is effective and acceptable for Long Covid patients who have not been hospitalised, when compared to usual care alone. As COVID-19 is a new disease, and some people have remaining symptoms we want to understand if a rehabilitation programme can improve symptoms.
We want to understand:
• If an exercise and education programme can help improve exercise capacity following COVID-19 compared to no programme.
• How the programme feels to the participants, do they find it acceptable and would they would recommend it to others.The study will also seek the opinion of those who did not wish to attend, and what could be changed to make it make it more acceptable to them.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NW/0279
Date of REC Opinion
13 Sep 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion