This study will test the efficacy of a COVID-19 specific cardiopulmonary rehabilitation protocol for treatment of persistent post-acute COVID symptoms and to study the impact of cardiopulmonary improvement on cognition, mental health, and function. Participants (N=36) with persistent post-acute COVID symptoms will undergo pre-treatment neurocognitive, orthostatic tolerance, and exercise tolerance tests before being pseudo-randomized (stratified by age and sex) to one of four conditions (all of which occur twice a week): 1) 8 sessions of treadmill exercise plus supplemental oxygen, 2) 8 sessions of treadmill exercise plus air, 3) 8 sessions of supplemental oxygen only, and 4) 8 sessions of air only. The pre-treatment testing will be repeated, after which all participants will receive 16 additional sessions of treadmill exercise plus supplemental oxygen, followed by post-treatment testing. All participants will complete baseline measures of physical and mental health, physical function, emotional wellbeing, and coping. A brief symptom measure will be collected daily and physical function, mental health, and emotional wellbeing will be assessed weekly.
This study will test the efficacy of treadmill exercise combined with supplemental oxygen during exercise and recovery for the treatment of persistent post-acute COVID-19 symptoms. Participants will be pseudo-randomized (stratified by age) to one of four conditions for 8 treatment sessions: 1) treadmill exercise plus supplemental oxygen, 2) treadmill exercise plus air, 3) supplemental oxygen only, 4) air only. All participants will then cross-over and receive 16 additional sessions of treadmill exercise plus supplemental oxygen.