Trial Report Effects of Aerobic Exercise Therapy through Nordic Walking Program in Lactate Concentrations, Fatigue and QoL in Long-COVID, 2024,Laguarta-Val

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https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/13/4/1035

Effects of Aerobic Exercise Therapy through Nordic Walking Program in Lactate Concentrations, Fatigue and Quality-of-Life in Patients with Long-COVID Syndrome: A Non-Randomized Parallel Controlled Trial

Sofía Laguarta-Val 1 , David Varillas-Delgado 2,* , Ángel Lizcano-Álvarez 3 , Alberto Molero-Sánchez 1 , Alberto Melian-Ortiz 4 , Roberto Cano-de-la-Cuerda 1 and Carmen Jiménez-Antona 1

1 Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcon, 28922 Madrid, Spain; sofia.laguarta@urjc.es (S.L.-V.); alberto.molero@urjc.es (A.M.-S.); roberto.cano@urjc.es (R.C.-d.-l.-C.); carmen.jimenez@urjc.es (C.J.-A.)

2 Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, 28223 Pozuelo, Spain

3 Department of Nursing and Stomatology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcon, 28922 Madrid, Spain; angel.lizcano@urjc.es

4 Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, 28015 Madrid, Spain; amelianor@upsa.es * Correspondence: david.varillas@ufv.es

Abstract:

Background:

Long-COVID syndrome comprises a variety of signs and symptoms that develop during or after infection with COVID-19 which may affect the physical capabilities. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the effects of Long-COVID syndrome in sport capabilities after suffering from COVID-19 infection. The purpose of the study was to evaluate and compare lactate concentration and quality of life (QoL) in patients with Long-COVID with those who have not developed non-Long-COVID during Nordic walking exercise therapy.

Methods:

Twenty-nine patients (25.5 ± 7.1 years) took part in a non-randomized controlled trial, divided into two groups: a Long-COVID group (n = 16) and a non-Long-COVID control (n = 13). Patients were confirmed as having Long-COVID syndrome if they experienced fatigue or tiredness when performing daily activities and worsening of symptoms after vigorous physical or mental activity. All participants underwent a 12-week Nordic Walking program. Lactate concentration after exercise and distance covered during all sessions were measured. Pre- and Long-Nordic Walking program, the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), and EURO QoL-5D (EQ-ED) were administered to assess fatigue and quality of life, respectively.

Results:

There was a lactate concentration effect between groups (F = 5.604; p = 0.024). However, there was no significant effect as a result of the session (F = 3.521; p = 0.121) with no interaction of group × session (F = 1.345; p = 0.414). The group main effect (F = 23.088; p < 0.001), time effect (F = 6.625; p = 0.026), and group × time (F = 4.632; p = 0.002) interaction on the SF-36 scale were noted. Also, there were a significant group main effect (F = 38.372; p < 0.001), time effect (F = 12.424; p = 0.005), and group × time interaction (F = 4.340; p = 0.014) on EQ-5D. However, there was only a significant group main effect (F = 26.235; p < 0.001) with no effect on time (F = 2.265; p = 0.160) and group × time (F = 1.584; p = 0.234) interaction on the MFIS scale.

Conclusions:

The Long-COVID group showed higher lactate concentration compared with the control group during the 12 weeks of the Nordic Walking program. The Long-COVID group presented a decrease in fatigue with respect to the control group according to the MFIS scale, as well as improvement in quality of life after aerobic exercise therapy.

Keywords: Long-COVID; COVID-19; fatigue; quality of life; lactate concentration; aerobic exercise; Nordic Walking program J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13, 1035. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13041035 https://www

 

Yawn, yet another 12 week exercise study with very small sample. I don't know why they even bother. If they looked, they would've known that there have been plenty of them done on MECFS patients.

The paper was written poorly and hard to parse. But if you can cover 4 km in 45 min, with Nordic Walk no less, you are not that sick; I wouldn't even put them in the patient category. It's as if they took deconditioned post-COVID folks and reconditioned them. It's a far cry from typical MECFS patients.