Clinical Research Directory

Physical Training in Patients With POTS After Covid-19

Covid-19 has the potential to affect physical, cognitive and psychological functions in multiple ways. It has been clear that a significant proportion of patients with Covid-19 develop long-term symptoms. The term post-acute Covid-19 syndrome (PACS) is now used to describe the wide range of prolonged symptoms following the infection. Patients may need specialized rehabilitation to be able to meet the complex symptoms and problems that may arise. A more specific syndrome that seems to occur more frequently than expected in the group of non-hospitalized patients who have had Covid-19 is the postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). To evaluate the effects of physical training in patients with POTS after Covid-19 a single subject design will be used (the patient is their own control). Inidividual semistructured interviews will be performed to explore and describe the patients´ experiences of the rehabilitation intervention. Participants: Patients diagnosed with POTS after Covid-19 (N=30) will be included. Procedure and outcomes: The primary outcomes are physical activity and health-related quality of life. Secondary outcomes are: physical capacity, active standing test, Malmö-POTS-questionnaire, Anxiety and depression, fatigue, self-reported outcome measure of physical function and work ability. Initially measurements will be performed several times during a period of 2-4 weeks to obtain a baseline before the intervention starts. Then the included participants will undergo a specially designed physical training program that will be performed 3 times /week during a period of 12 weeks. The intervention of physical training will consist of different exercises to enhance muscle strength and endurance. The intervention will be individually adjusted with a progression in dose, intensity, and position. The exercise is based on a program used in a previous study. Measurements will then be repeated after completion of the intervention period. A qualitative approach, with semistructured interviews, will be used to explore the patients´ experiences of the intervention, after commence of the interventional trial.