Telerehabilitation in Patients With COVID-19 After Hospitalization. The ATHLOS Study

NCT ID: NCT04368845

Last Updated: 2023-12-28

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

82 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-04-01

Study Completion Date

2021-07-31

Brief Summary

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This is a two-phase multicenter study that will be conducted in collaboration with five university hospitals, in order to offer telehealth services at home in patients with COVID-19, after hospital discharge.

At the first phase an observational study aims to investigate the physical and psychological status of patients after hospital discharge and to provide support and information how to cope with symptoms (early fatigue, muscle weakness, eating difficulties, etc).

At the second phase a randomized control trial study will evaluate a 6-month telerehabilitation program for 100 adults (aged 20-65 years) diagnosed with COVID-19, who completed the first phase of this study. At this phase, the study will randomize (1:1 allocation) 100 male and female who were hospitalized with COVID-19 to either a 24-week home-based telerehabilitation program versus usual care. The intervention program includes individualized prescribed endurance exercises, low intensity aerobic exercises, upper and lower extremity strength training, breathing exercises as well as a three times per month online support with 1:1 supervision via video conferencing with an expert physiotherapist.

Detailed Description

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This is a two-phase multicenter study that will be conducted in collaboration with five university hospitals in order to offer home telehealth services in patients with COVID-19, after hospital discharge.

At the first phase, an observational study aims to investigate the physical and psychological status of patients after hospital discharge and to provide support and information how to cope with symptoms (early fatigue, muscle weakness, eating difficulties, etc).

We aim to support 200 patients with age 20-65 years, between a 1-8 week period after hospital discharge, providing an e-book with body exercises, breathing exercises and nutritional support, additionally to four telehealth consultation sessions.

At the second phase, a single blinded randomized control trial study will evaluate a 6-month home telerehabilitation program for 100 diagnosed with COVID-19 adults (aged 20-65 years), who completed the first phase of this study. The second phase will randomize (1:1 allocation) 100 male and female who were hospitalized with COVID-19 to either a 24-week home-based telerehabilitation program versus usual care.

The intervention includes individualized prescribed upper and lower extremity endurance exercises, aerobic exercises, upper and lower extremity strength training, breathing exercises as well as a three times per month online support with 1:1 supervision via video conferencing with an expert physiotherapist.

The usual care group will be advised to follow the instructions of the e-book for any possible exercise training. Three times per month with 1:1 video conferencing, an expert physiotherapist will record any possible exercise with no further recommendations or support.

Changes from baseline in physical activity levels, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical performance, lower limb strength, anxiety and depression and health-related quality of life will be assessed at 3 and 6 months for both groups. All functional tests in the second phase of the study will be performed via supervision teleconference for all the participants with an expert physiotherapist. Findings from this project will contribute to the field of telerehabilitation in patients with COVID-19 after hospital discharge and will provide critical preliminary data for the design and implementation of a larger, randomized control trial assessing the impact of telerehabilitation on long-term clinical outcomes following infection or re-infection from coronaviruses.

Conditions

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COVID-19 Comorbidities and Coexisting Conditions

Keywords

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covid-19 telerehabilitation physiotherapy home rehabilitation

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Two arm single blinded randomized control trial
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors
Block Randomisation, Initial and final outcome assessors blinded to treatment arm

Study Groups

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Experimental Intervention Arm: Telerehabilitation

The treatment arm will be given up to 1-hour resistive training exercises, breathing exercises and aerobic exercises administered by an expert physiotherapist via teleconference (telerehabilitation). Every ten days one physiotherapist will record the individualized exercise program, will reevaluate the magnitude of exercise for each patient and reinforce to continue or increase exercise magnitude.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Telerehabilitation

Intervention Type DEVICE

The treatment arm will be given up to 1-hour breathing exercises, aerobic and resistive training exercises administered by a physiotherapist via a telerehabilitation device every 10 days for a six-month period.

No Intervention: Conventional teleconference

The usual care arm will receive standard communication via teleconference every ten days for a six-month period without any specific recommendations and exercise prescription for home training. The control arm will be subject to the same assessments as the experimental arm at the start, and at the 3 and 6 months period.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Telerehabilitation

The treatment arm will be given up to 1-hour breathing exercises, aerobic and resistive training exercises administered by a physiotherapist via a telerehabilitation device every 10 days for a six-month period.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Male and female adults with age from 20 to 65 years hospitalized due COVID-19 infection. Able to give consent

Exclusion Criteria

* the presence of mental illness, any physical disability that makes difficult to mobilize patients, severe heart disease, severe musculoskeletal pain, vascular aneurysms, severe neurological condition, pregnancy
Minimum Eligible Age

20 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Athens

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Ioannina

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Thessaly

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Eleni Kortianou

Associate Professor in Respiratory Physiotherapy

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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ELENI KORTIANOU, PhD, PT

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Clinical Exercise Physiology and Rehabilitation Research Laboratory

ELENI KAPRELI, PhD, PT

Role: STUDY_CHAIR

Clinical Exercise Physiology and Rehabilitation Research Laboratory

Locations

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Clinical exercise Physiology and rehabilitation research laboratory

Lamia, , Greece

Site Status

Countries

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Greece

References

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Papathanasiou G, Georgoudis G, Papandreou M, Spyropoulos P, Georgakopoulos D, Kalfakakou V, Evangelou A. Reliability measures of the short International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) in Greek young adults. Hellenic J Cardiol. 2009 Jul-Aug;50(4):283-94.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19622498 (View on PubMed)

Bergland A, Strand BH. Norwegian reference values for the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB): the Tromso Study. BMC Geriatr. 2019 Aug 8;19(1):216. doi: 10.1186/s12877-019-1234-8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31395008 (View on PubMed)

Wassenberg MW, Severs D, Bonten MJ. Psychological impact of short-term isolation measures in hospitalised patients. J Hosp Infect. 2010 Jun;75(2):124-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2010.01.023. Epub 2010 Apr 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20381912 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id