The effect of prolonged sitting on arterial stiffness in Long COVID
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The effect of three hours of uninterrupted sitting on central and peripheral arterial stiffness in Long COVID
IRAS ID
346124
Contact name
Scott Hannah
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Winchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Those with Long COVID (LC) demonstrate worse blood vessel health in comparison to those without (Nandadeva et al., 2023). Long COVID causes significant changes to peoples daily activities and ability to engage in physical activity, with greater levels of sedentary behaviour reported for at least 6 months compared to pre-infection (Delbressine et al., 2021).
Sitting for prolonged periods acutely worsens vascular health and brain blood flow (Carter et al., 2018; Paterson et al., 2020). The preceding study reported that 120 minutes of sitting causes different changes to blood vessels in those with LC compared to a control group, however, minimal changes in arterial stiffness. IRAS:309606 and recent published work suggests three hours is an optimal minimum threshold.
Data from our lab (IRAS: 309606) demonstrated those with LC sit for over two hours, and in rare occasions for over four hours at a time. It was also demonstrated that those with Long COVID report no significant additional fatigue in response to prolonged sitting periods compared to a control, and therefore a sitting time of three hours is deemed feasible in this population.
Individuals will remain seated for 180 minutes with measures of blood vessel health and blood flow taken before and after sitting periods. These measurements are in line with previous work (IRAS: 309606), however additional measurements of blood flow in the calf and lower limb blood vessel health have been added to offer additional insight into potential explanations of results.
Eligible participants will be aged over 18 years, have displayed symptoms of long COVID for more than 12 weeks, and have been diagnosed with long COVID via GP or long COVID clinic. Involvement will include visits to a laboratory at the University of Winchester/University Gloucestershire. Involvement can be expected to last up to 30 days
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/WM/0230
Date of REC Opinion
29 Nov 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion